Protection
by katmac1202
Summary: Secret Service Agent Regina Mills and First Daughter Emma Swan. Swan Queen. I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THIS COMES FROM ABOVE ALL HONOR BY RADCLYFE.
1. Chapter 1

"I don't want this assignment."

"You don't have a choice."

"This isn't even my area." Her voice was deep and forceful, and, at the moment, riding the razor edge of control. Her eyes were dark brown, deadly cold. "I'm an investigator, not a goddamned baby-sitter."

"You've been selected by the security council. They think you're the best one to head up the detail." Assistant Director Robert Gold regarded her impassively. He'd expected this reaction. She was a a seasoned field agent with more than a decade's experience,  
and, despite recent events, a highly effective one. She'd be in line for an assistant director's position if she ever learned to play the game. That thought almost made him smile. Not very likely.

"With all due respect, sir, I am a senior agent. I should have some say regarding my assignments."

She was right; they both knew it. He studied the tall, trim, dark-haired agent silently. She was thinner than the last time he had seen her, and there was a new hardness in her dark eyes. She stared at him in thinly disguised challenge, anger simmering  
very near the surface. The folder on his desk held her service record, and he knew every word by heart. It was flawless, exemplary in every way. It told the crucial facts, and none of the story. No one had never known the whole story, and now they  
never would. Because she wasn't talking, and no one really wanted her to. What everyone wanted was to get on with business as usual, and it was his job to see that that happened.

"The directive was clear," Gold said flatly. "The decision is not negotiable."

"Any rookie could do it," she seethed through clenched teeth.

You're wrong. But I expect you'll discover that soon enough.

"Is this some kind of punishment?" She was skirting the edge of insubordination. She knew it, and she didn't care. There wasn't a thing anyone could do to her that could hurt her any longer. Except maybe bury her in a bullshit detail like this. She needed  
a field assignment- something that would consume her energy, something that would exhaust her mind, something that would obliterate her memories. "A little late for that, don't you think?"

" Most people would consider this a top post."

"Not the people on my side of the street." Her laugh was brittle. "Is it the injury? Do they think I'm not fit for real duty?"

"Are you?"

"Absolutely. I've been released from rehab. I've passed the mandatory psych eval." Her leg still wasn't quite right, she couldn't sleep, and most of the time all she felt was empty, but he didn't need to know that. "I'm ready."

"Good. I'm glad to hear it. You start tomorrow. I suggest you review the available reports from the current commander before you leave for New York."

"Damn it, Gold. You know I don't deserve this!"

"This has nothing to do with you, Agent. That will be all."

When she turned away, stiff with rage, he felt a wave of sympathy. She did deserve more from them than an assignment that to her could only seem like a demotion. He had no doubt she would give her best; she always did. What he wondered was where she would  
put her anger.

* * *

"Booth seven is free," the firearm supervisor informed her.

She nodded and grabbed a pair of protective ear mufflers as she walked through the small office to the long corridor that opened into the individual firing stations. She wore a gray T-shirt and navy sweatpants from her two hour workout at the gym, and  
the back of her shirt was still wet with sweat. The small bag she carried held her service automatic and ammunition. She looked neither right nor left as she strode rapidly toward the marrow glass enclosure.

There was a row of buttons that allowed her to set the target type and distance. She began with a medium range standard human form and fired off a clip at an easy pace, alternating between clusters in the mid torso and head. As she rhythmically squeezed  
the trigger, her mind slowly emptied of emotion until all she felt was the recoil of her weapon and the measured beat of her heart. When her anger over an assignment that she had no desire to undertake and couldn't avoid slowly abated, she moved the  
target fifty feet farther away. Accuracy demanded even greater concentration, and as she began to fire in faster, tighter bursts, the ever-present vestiges of longing and loss gradually faded.

By the time she had moved the smallest target to its farthest distance, she felt absolutely nothing.

* * *

Fresh from the shower, she walked naked across the carpeted living room to the bar. Her apartment was on the top floor, and the floor to ceiling windows were uncovered exposing the night skyline of Washington D.C. The view was breathtaking. She poured  
an inch of single malt Scotch into a heavy crystal rock glass and leaned against the bar, staring at the city lights mingling with the stars. There had been a time when this vision had moved her with its piercing beauty. There had been many nights  
when she had allowed the tensions of the day to drift away into that great expanse of flickering light, feeling the world settle back into some kind of order. It was often the last thing she saw before she slipped into bed, but then she hadn't been  
alone.

Now when she looked out the window, she saw the past reflected back at her. Unchangeable, immutable, unforgiving. She had no desire to think at all. Not tonight. She glanced at the clock. Soon she wouldn't have to.

She reached for the red silk robe from the back of a chair when a knock sounded at the door. She had a flight to New York in five hours, and a meeting with her new team at 8:00. She still needed to review the dossier that had been delivered by courier  
that evening. She didn't have much time, and she knew she wouldn't sleep.

She glanced at the clock again as she crossed to the door. It was 1:00 a.m. Her visitor was punctual; she always was. She opened the door to admit a woman in her mid thirties, expensively dressed in a charcoal gray linen suit, a silk shirt open to expose  
the swell of her breasts, and low heeled black boots. Casually elegant. The woman greeted her with a familiar smile, brushing her blonde hair back with a long elegant hand. "Hello."

"Hi." As she closed the door, she asked, "Can I get you something to drink?"

"That depends," the blonde replied as she slipped her jacket off and laid it carefully along the back of a leather couch that faced the windows. "Are you in the mood for talking tonight?"

"I don't have much time."

"Then I'll save that drink for another night," her guest replied softly. With a knowing gaze, she assessed the faint circles beneath normally clear brown eyes and noted the tightness along the sculpted jaw. "Sit down in front of the windows."

Wordlessly, the woman in red dimmed the lights as she moved around to the sofa and sat as directed. The room was in near darkness now except for the shadows etched in moonlight. She might have been one of them as she sipped her Scotch and watched the  
stars revolve overhead. She has been here before, in the still of the night, but not quite like this. Never quite so detached, so singularly isolated despite the warmth of the body just barely perceptible between her thighs. She was distantly aware  
of the gentle tug that loosened the belt at her waist and the soft parting of the silk that covered her. At first light touch of fingers against her skin, she shivered involuntarily.

Eventually the teasing stroked over her abdomen and along her inner thighs became firmer, more insistent, demanding her attention. When the press of palms high on the inside of her legs bid her open, she arched toward the woman kneeling before her in  
the dark, tightening almost painfully as warm lips encircled her. Slow, practiced caresses of a velvet smooth tongue swept every image from her consciousness, eclipsing thought with near-agonizing pleasure. A groan escaped her as she dropped her head  
back against the couch, allowing the slowly building pressure to take her outside herself, beyond thought, past memory. The pounding of her heart grew loud in her ears as her breath came in short gasps, almost sobs. Eyes closed, she struggled to contain  
the exquisite, piercing ache centered in her clit, and failed. When the explosion began, ripping at her control, she slipped one hand into the soft blonde hair, moaning deep in her throat. Trembling, helpless, for a few moments she was mercifully  
unaware.

* * *

She walked the blonde to the door and picked up a sealed envelope that rested on the table just inside the foyer. She handed it to her visitor, who took it wordlessly and slipped it into her purse.

"I'll be away for a while. I don't know how long."

"Will I see you again?"

"I don't know."

The blonde studied the tall, handsome stranger she had met countless times in the dark hours of the night-in this room, in elegant hotel suites, in rooms that might be anywhere, or nowhere at all. She knew virtually nothing of the other woman's life,  
except what she gleaned from the confessions of her body. She knew the hard, lean muscles and the angry red scar on her thigh that was healing now, faded over the months since they had met. She knew the soft, sensitive places that left her gasping  
when touched. She wondered whose name the stranger called out when she came into the silence. She had never tried to find out, and she did not want to know now. Strangely, it was something else she wanted altogether. If this was to be their last meeting,  
she wanted to leave something of herself.

Breaking every rule, the blonde said softly, "My name is Angelina."

"Angelina," the dark-eyed stranger whispered, the expression in her intense gaze unfathomable as she leaned close and kissed her for the first time. It was a brief, tender meeting of lips that spoke a greeting, or perhaps a goodbye. Then, breaking every  
rule, she said, "My name is Regina."

When the door closed, leaving them to their separate lives, with their silent secrets, the lingering memory of that kiss was all that remained between them.


	2. Chapter 2

At 6:00 a.m., United States Secret Service Agent Regina Mills boarded a small jet bound for New York City. She wore her ID badge clipped to the breast pocket of her charcoal gabardine suit. She carried an overnight bag with a change of clothes and her computer. The rest of her belongings will follow on a separate flight and would be delivered to her new apartment in the Boro Grove Hotel later that day by some member of her team. After four hours of deep sleep, undisturbed by dreams, she felt fresh and ready to work. That she didn't like her new assignment was now a moot point and no longer concerned her. She had a job to do, and that was all that mattered.

The flight was only partially full. It was Saturday morning, and only a few government employees were traveling. She took a sweat across the aisle from a blond man with a badge that proclaimed "FBI" in bold letters. She saw him study her own badge as she sat down. Female agents were no longer rare, but she still drew attention. She was used to it.

"Investigation division?" He questioned, referring to one of the two arms of the Secret Service, as the plane taxied down the runway.

She nearly said yes, then stopped herself quickly. For twelve years that had been true, but not any longer. With a shake of her head, she replied, "Protective."

"Anybody important?" He asked curiously.

"Aren't the all?"

He couldn't tell if she was joking, so he stifled a laugh. And they say FBI agents are humorless. Jesus.

She opened her laptop computer, subtyl angling the screen away from him. He took the hint and opened a newspaper as she entered her password.

She entered the link to the USSS personnel division and brought up the bios on her new team. Nothing out of the ordinary. Four men and two women in addition to herself, most with more than five years experience in the field. All college educated, as were most agents except the rare few who came through military channels or some other unusual route. All had advanced emergency medical training, as had she, and all were expert marksman. Two of the men and one woman were married; there were one Hispanic and one African-American agent. She fixed a name to each face and exited the site.

Entering another protected password, she brought up the encrypted file she had downloaded the previous night.

Field Report, Fri 12/26/00, 21:30

Submitted by USSS Agent in charge Henry Daniels

Subject: Emma Jennifer Swan

DOB: 10/22/1983

Residence: 710 Boro Grove, PH New York

City, 15643

Phone: (134) 135-6516

Marital Status: Single

Occupation: Artist

Business address: NA

Code Name: Cobra

Physical Description: WF, 5' 5'', 130 lbs.

Hair: Blonde

Eyes: Blue

Distinguishing Marks: 3 cm tattoo left wrist (flower outline)

Education: Lubavitch Girls School, Wellesley

Medical Conditions: None

Allergies: None

Business Agent: Ashley Boyd

Romantic: Current-unverified

Last known: classified, FYEO file

Significant relationships: (SEE ATTACHED REPORTS)

Summary: Standard twenty-four hour, rotating shift surveillance. Subject schedule fluid, frequently unverified. Communication link: Team commander only per subject request. On-person com-links-refused.

The file was bare-bones minimum, and Regina wondered what her predecessor wasn't willing to commit to hard copy. She'd find out soon enough. He was meeting her at the airport for a debriefing.

She slipped her coffee and slipped the thin folder that held the "Eyes Only" report on Cobra's last known lover from her briefcase. She read it carefully, her expression betraying nothing. According to this, until eighteen months ago, the president's daughter had been having an affair with the wife of the French ambassador. For obvious reasons, knowledge of the relationship had been kept under deep cover, although rumors had floated in the security community for years about the sexual leanings of Emma Swan. Regina had heard tam and, because it had nothing to do with her, dismissed them. Apparently, the rumors were a bit more conjecture, and now she could no longer ignore them. Part of her job was to see that the details of the first daughter's personal life remained private and that to the rest of the world, rumors remained just that. Her task would be doubly hard if the subject refused to cooperate.

And if I'm reading between the lines of the field report correctly, the last commander found the president's daughter far from obliging.

She wondered briefly in her appointment as commander of the security detail assigned to Ms. Swan hadn't been due to her own sexual preferences. It wasn't a matter of record, of course, but no one really believed that anyone in the government's employ had any secrets. She has been careful, but certainly not paranoid, about her personal life. After the events of a year ago, she doubted there was much her superiors didn't know. Speculation was futile, and pointless. She knew for certain she didn't care.

She fed the file recounting the details of Emma Swan's love-life into the shredder at the front of the plane as she exited.

* * *

"Sorry to transition on the run," Henry Daniels remarked as the settled into a booth in the airport cafeteria. "I have to catch a flight out at 0800"

"No problem," Regina replied neutrally. She didn't know Daniels. She knew almost no one in the protective branch of the service, which might be either a blessing or a curse. She'd have fewer contacts if she needed behind-the-scenes assistance, but she'd also have less history with those above and below her. She'd been given this command, or more correctly, been forced to take it, and intended to run it the way she saw fit. She'd owe no one, and that was just the way she liked it.

"Graham Humbert is the second in command and will basically be your aide, unless you decide you want someone else. He's a good communications man. He has the apartment building plans, evac routes, and hospital info ready to review with you as soon as you arrive. Your NYPD liaison is Captain Mark Goldman; he's Hostage Rescue. He usually interfaces with police patrol division commander, Lieutenant Hank Wilkinson, if Cobra is traveling to some public function. Both good people. Otherwise, we cover her internally. Rotating shifts, eight-hour tours, with a primary agent assigned to her who is free to float if there's some unscheduled event."

"Uh-huh," Regina caid casually. Everything he was telling her could have easily been relayed by anyone on the team. She was waiting for him to get to the point of this private meeting.

He watched her watching him. Her rep was that she was a real straight arrow. A by-the-book agent. She'd have to be to get this post. She certainly looked the part. Her thick dark hair was perfectly trimmed neat around her ears, collar length in the back; her suit was without a wrinkle and subtly tailored to her tight, trim build; she didn't display a hint of nerves or anything else, assessing him with intense, piercing brown eyes. The bio he'd been given showed she'd been advancing rapidly through the investigation unit. Why she'd been reassigned to the protective division was anyone's guess. Beyond that scant information, she was a cipher. He couldn't find anyone who had inside knowledge about her, and no one had heard even a whisper that she was anything other than an obsessively dedicated agent. He met her gaze and made a decision.

"Can we talk off the record here?"

"Go ahead," Regina responded. It's about time.

"Every day for the last six months I woke up wondering who I had pissed off to get this assignment ," he said with a shake of his head. "Cobra is practically impossible to protect because she doesn't want us around. She's been under some kind of protective watch since she was a kid, and she knows the ropes. She's a goddamned expert at misleading us, evading us, and generally humiliating us when it comes to surveillance. She's like Jekyll and Hyde."

He rubbed his face and made an effort to keep his voice even. "at public functions, she's fine-cooperative, even friendly. Privately, she does everything she can to make our job hell. She refuses to discuss her schedule with anyone except the team commander. Congratulations-now that's you."

His tone implied that was a dubious honor. Regina said nothing.

"Then," he continued darkly, "she changes plans without telling anyone. We almost never have time to adjust vehicle placement or equipment, so we're forced to shadow her on foot-which in New York City is a nightmare. She absolutely refuses to wear a microphone or any other tracking device, even on direct instructions form the president." He handed her two photographs. "Then there's this."

She studied the shots side by side. The first was a standard color publicity photo like dozens she'd seen of the president's daughter. The close-up depicted Emma Swan at the opening of the Reagan Building the previous year. As usual, she looked poised and confident. Her blond hair was swept back from her face, held with a silver clasp at the base of her neck. Her make-up was understated and flawless, serving only to accentuate the natural elegance of her sculpted face and clear, smooth skin. Her designer dress highlighted her sleek form, complementing both her athleticism and her subtle softness. She was, in a word, beautiful.

The second photo was a candid taken when the subject was unaware. It was grainy, suggesting it had been shot from a long-range unit through a telephoto lens. The details, however, were clear. The woman in the photo was exiting an apartment building, location unknown, and had been caught as she ran down the stairs to the street. She wore tight faded jeans and a white cotton tank top, short enough to expose an expanse of tight midriff. Her breasts, firm and well shaped, were clearly evident beneath the thin material and just as clearly unencumbered by a brassiere. The clothes displayed her long legs, sleek torso, and toned limbs with brazen explicitness. Her breast length blonde hair hung free around her face, mildly curly, looking as if she had simply run her hands through it in lieu of a comb. She wore no make-up and didn't look like she needed any. Even in the still photo, she exuded an energy that was palpable. She projected the sensuality of a jungle cat and looked about as dangerous. Upon casual observation, she bore almost no resemblance to the contained, refined woman in the first shot.

Regina handed him the photographs silently. It was his show.

"No one in the general public recognizes her like that, and sometimes it even takes us a minute or two. In that time, she can disappear into a crowd, walk into a restaurant unnoticed, or get into a cab without a fuss. That's why it's so easy for her to lose us. No one points a finger at her or runs after her trying to get an autograph."

"But you and your operatives still know what she looks like," Regina pointed out. "You can find her." That was obvious, and she wondered when he would get to the real issue.

He nodded agreement. "Sure we can. Most of the time. The problem is, we need to protect her privacy as well as her reputation." He ignored the slight lift in Regina's eyebrow at that line of bullshit. Emma Swan had no privacy. And they both knew it was the president's image they needed to keep untarnished. Any scandal regarding his daughter reflected on his parenting skills, and ultimately on his character. It wasn't necessarily a make-or-break issue, but every bit of bad press or acrimonious debate affected public opinion. Political fortunes had turned on less.

Blowing out a breath, he cut to the chase. "She's a lesbian. In certain situations, if we call attention to her, that's going to get out. She knows it, and she uses it."

"How so?"

"She frequents some of the gay bars. It's hard for me to put agents in there, even when they're undercover. I never know when she's going to duck into one. Plus, I don't exactly want to announce to everyone in the place that Emma Swan just walked in. She picks up women-women we have absolutely no way of identifying in the moment. We have no way to know where they might go, no wat to put agents in place in advance. We are constantly running in second place hoping to God she doesn't get herself into trouble before we can get there."

"Is she promiscuous?" Regina asked evenly.

"She does better with women than I ever did," he remarked in frustration. "She doesn't have a steady girlfriend. I wish to hell she did. Then maybe we could keep track of her. She doesn't exactly sleep around, but she doesn't go long without sex either."

"What are you trying to tell me here, Agent Daniels?" Regina asked, tired of skirting the edges of the issue. "In addition to the fact that we have an uncooperative, high-profile subject with a very problematic lifestyle?"

"She's an angry animal in a cage, and you're the new zookeeper. She's been trying to escape for years, and when she does, someone is going to get hurt."

Regina inclined her head in agreement. It was a career breaker, and she could see why Daniels was glad to get out. If she had the luxury of empathizing with the first daughter, she would have felt deeply for her predicament. Emma Swan had lived with constant surveillance since her father had been elected vice president for two terms, and prior to that, when he had been governor of New York. Now that he was a newly seated president, she had at least three more years of even closer monitoring. She was a prisoner in all but name, and Regina doubted anyone could tolerate that for long. The political pressure to hide her sexuality surely made it even worse. But Emma Swan's happiness was not her responsibility, and she couldn't waste time or objectively worrying about it.

"Someone may indeed get hurt," she responded. "I intend to see that it's not her."

* * *

"Agent Mills?" A handsome Brad Pitt look-alike inquired as Regina stepped off the elevator on the eighth floor of a brownstone apartment building that faced the south side of Boro Grove. He extended his hand with a disarming smile, "I'm Graham Humbert. The others are inside the command post briefing room. Welcome to the Hamelin."

"Agent Humbert." She took his outstretched hand. "Regina Mills."

"Call me Graham, Commander."

"Done. What's on for this morning, Graham?"

She accompanied him into a large loft space that had been sectioned into work cubicles and equipment stations by shoulder-high particleboard partitions. The Secret Service's surveillance center occupied the entire floor directly below Emma Swan's penthouse suite. A small conference room enclosed by glass filled the far corner. As they approached the group of people seated within, Humbert consulted a printout in his hand.

"Intro and weekly briefing now. You are scheduled to meet with Cobra at 1100 in the oenthouse." He caught her faint expression of surprise and shrugged. "She won't talk to any of us. She says if she must discuss her plans, it will only be once, and with the team commander."

"It's her prerogative," Regina remarked with no inflection. As she walked, she made careful note of the banks of video monitors, multi-cassette recorders, computer simulators, and a large grid of New York City, digitally indexed and showing real-time placement of police vehicles. It was the same array of equipment used to monitor the White House and surrounds, and for the same reason. The president was vulnerable through his family. To avoid the appearance of that vulnerability, the first family needed to be shown living as normal a life as possible, and that did not include being shuttled about by armed guards. Hence, their protection needed to be provided at a distance, with as little visibility as possible. The semblance of freedom was a ruse they all conspired to perpetuate- everyone, apparently, except Emma Swan.

Humbert held the conference door open for her, and she strode through without a second's hesitation. This was her field to command.

"Good morning, people. I am Regina Mills." She stood at the head of the long table and glanced at each face, making brief eye contact with everyone, and allowing them a good look at her. When she was certain she had everyone's attention, she sat, stating briskly, "You have one hour to tell me everything I need to know about this operation, and everything you don't think I need to know as well. Let's get started."

At the end of an hour during which Regina listened, questioned, and issued a few directives, the agents who constituted her team sensed there was a new game in town. Everyone present took their responsibility seriously, for the sake of their future employment if for no other reason, and each had felt the frustration voiced earlier by the departing team commander. That dissatisfaction was heightened by the fact that they disliked Emma Swan, although none of them would every say so, even to each other. In the six months that the team had been charged with the protection of the first daughter, the obstructive, uncooperative attitude of Emma Swan had subtly undetermined the confidence of the operatives. An hour with Regina Mills provided them with the first jolt of optimism they'd felt in weeks.

"Allow me to summarize," Regina said as she stood and walked to the window looking down on the postage-stamp-sized private garden that formed the heart of Boro Grove. As she watched, an elderly woman unlocked the gate in the wrought-iron fence that surrounded the park. When she spoke again, her back was to the room, but her voice was clearly audible. "Ms. Swan resents our intrusions into her life. She resents our presence in every public and private moment of her day. Undoubtedly, she resents our observations of her personal liaisons and romantic encounters. I, for one, don't blame her."

She turned to the group with a small shrug. "The fact that Ms. Swan does not welcome our presence is immaterial. Our job is to see that she is able to carry on her life with a maximum degree of security as possible, no matter where she is, or what's she's doing, with the maximum degree of privacy achievable. She has decided to make this a game. We have to play, and, more importantly, we have to win. We don't get to throw in the towel or call foul if she changes the rules."

Every eye was on her as she placed her palms on the table and leaned forward. Her gaze was hard, her tone uncompromising as she finished, "There are no rain-outs. We can't expect her to help us win. We have to do that for ourselves. That's what we're getting paid for."

She smiled faintly as she took her seat again, suddenly understanding at least one of the reasons she had been given this assignment. "Remember that she is an uncooperative subject. Don't expect her to make your job easy; don't expect her to smile and say good morning. She has made it clear she does not want us around. She is not going to invite us along. We will switch from protective surveillance methods to investigative tactics, starting now. If she can't see you, it will be harder for her to lose you."

She looked pointedly at each of her agents, seeing them as Emma Swan must see them. Ivy League starched, polished and presentable. About as obvious as the proverbial bulls in the china shop.

"You need to be with her in order to protect her. So you've got to fit in where she travels. You have to function essentially undercover. Except at scheduled public functions where Ms. Swan is acting in some official capacity, no suits, no ties, no skirts. Street clothes. Preferably something appropriate for the type of locales she is known to frequent."

She saw the slight stiffening of a few shoulders and continued unperturbed. It was time to stop circling the primary problem. "For you men, I think a slightly longer hair length would be helpful for starters. It's time for you to stop looking like cops." She sipped the last of her coffee, gathering her papers with the other hand. "A little research might also be in order. I want a summary of every gay bar and restaurant in New York City. Hours of operation, type of clientele, traffic patterns in that area,et cetera. Start with the ones you know she's been to. Have it on my desk before the day is out. Know your subject, ladies and gentlemen, and you have won the first point."

Everyone relaxed slightly as she pulled open the door to the conference room. She paused at the still, turning back casually.

"By the way. Graham, does she know about the video equipment in her apartment?"

He looked at her in surprise. How had see noticed that on a quick walk through the monitoring section?

"I doubt it," he said quietly. If she were aware of the micro-cameras mounted in the ceiling of her loft, she would hardly be walking around nude the way she does.

"Turn them off," Regina said flatly. "Video the elevator, the building exits, fire escapes, and garage only."

"Uh, Commander, we had a specific directive from the White Hou-"

"Disable them. On my responsibility."

With that, she was gone, leaving them to wonder where one got the balls to countermand a direct order from the White House chief of staff.


	3. Chapter 3

At precisely 1100, Regina keyed the elevator to the penthouse and, a moment later, exited into a small foyer. Opposite her a carved oak door was set into panels of the same highly polished wood. The wallpaper on the other two walls adjoining the lift was an intricately patterned and luxuriously textured cream fabric above dark oak wainscoting. A small table bearing a thin crystal vase with a spray of fresh flowers sat beside the door. The effect was warm and sensual.

Regina rang the bell and waited.

Emma Swan opened the door a moment later, and Regina automatically made one swift, sweeping visual assessment. The first daughter's hair was wet from the shower, casually finger-combed and falling freely around her face. She wore a loosely belted blue silk robe that came to mid-thigh. Her legs were bare, and Regina knew that she was naked beneath the thin material. The front gaped just enough to reveal the soft inner curves of both breasts, and the faint impression of her nipples was clear. There was a trace of jasmine floating in the air.

Regina was assaulted with the seething sensuality she had sensed in the photograph Daniels had shown her earlier, a sensation so powerful as to be nearly tangible. Her skin prickled, and she brought her gaze carefully back to eye level. In a neutral tone, she said, "I'm Agent Mills, Ms. Swan. I'll come back when you're ready for the briefing. If you would just call the command room-"

"I won't be available later," Emma interrupted, intently appraising the current commander assigned with her care. This one was definitely a surprise. She wore the requisite suit, much better cut than most imported material, too. The impeccable tailoring hid any hint of a bulge from the shoulder holster. Her black hair was fashionably styled in a roguishly faux masculine cut. The charcoal double breasted jacket was open to expose a fine white linen shirt that hugged a well developed chest and trim waist. The belted trousers were streamlined to tightly muscled thighs. With her deep brown eyes and chiseled features, Regina Mills was a remarkably attractive package. In addition, the commander was either unimpeachably heterosexual or exactly what she appeared to be, a lesbian who didn't care who knew it.

Emma was intrigued.

"It's either now or next week," the first daughter continued, enjoying her control. There was no way the new commander could wait even a few hours to discuss her schedule, and Emma knew it.

"Now would be fine," Regina acquiesced graciously. She didn't want a power struggle over trivial issues. She has no need to prove herself that way.

Emma stepped slightly aside, motioning Regina into the high ceiling open loft space. She smiled as Regina carefully avoided brushing against her. All business, she thought to herself.

"Do you have a first name, Agent Mills?" Emma asked as she crossed to the kitchen area. A breakfast bar flanked by tall stools on one side separated the cooking space from the large living room. She leaned down to pull two cups from the shelves under the island, quite aware that the movement afforded a clear view into her dressing gown.

"Regina," Regina replied, keeping her face and voice expressionless. Her mind registered the striking perfection of the younger woman's body. The image of her soft, pink nippled breasts was now indelibly implanted in her memory. She was being taunted, that much was clear. What she didn't know was why.

Emma straightened slowly, searching for a reaction in the handsome agent's face. She was curious when she found none.

"Regina," she breathed huskily. "That's nice. You can call me Emma."

"I'll try not to take too much of your time, Ms. Swan," Regina continued, outwardly appearing unperturbed while inwardly she worked to banish the unexpected disquiet the woman's physical appeal invoked. "If we could just review your plans for the week, I can leave you to your day."

Emma stared at her, undisguised anger suddenly seething in her blue eyes. "Don't patronize me, Agent Mills. We both know you won't be leaving me to anything at all."

Regina nodded assent. "Forgive me, I didn't mean it that way. Of course, I can't. But I can make my presence and that of my people as invisible as possible."

"Oh, really? That would be novel." Emma was secretly surprised by the agent's conciliatory approach. That was a new tactic. Usually the team commanders tried to bully her with threats of unfavorable reports to her father, as if she were an unruly child whose after school privileges could be taken away. Either that, or they promised her privacy while tightening the net around her the moment she cooperated. She had absolutely no reason to believe this one, despite the sincerity in her intense brown eyes.

"Coffee, Commander?" Emma walked around the island carrying the coffee until she was next to Regina. She reached to put the cups on the counter, intentionally brushing against the other woman as she did.

"Thank you." Regina didn't flinch at the contact, although her body registered the pressure of Emma's breasts against her arm and the heat of a naked thigh against her leg. She was annoyed by the twitch of arousal that occurred entirely involuntarily. She consciously kept her breathing light and steady.

She knows about the video cameras. That's why she's playing with me.

Putting the team commander in an embarrassing position on tape might conceivably benefit the first daughter at some point, or it just might be her idea of a game. Either way, the agent pitied Henry Daniels. Emma Swan was a powerfully desirable woman, and if such attractions still interested Regina, it might have been a problem. But Emma had no way of knowing that despite the reflex arousal she provoked, Regina was immune to even her undeniable sexual allure.

"Anything else I can get you?" Emma murmured, deliberately pressing closer.

Regina allowed the moment of contact to linger long enough to make it clear she was aware of it, and undisturbed by it. She'd gotten quiet a lot of practice in the last six months saying no to attractive women. Then she stepped away, reached into her inside jacket pocket for the computer log Graham had provided her, and held it up between them.

"The schedule?" She said softly.

Emma stared at her, color rising to her face. She has just been rebuked, subtly, but very definitely. Rejection from women was a new and quite unwelcome experience. She'd never been as blatantly provocative with Henry Daniels, but she had sensed his discomfort whenever they were alone, and she knew she had an effect on him. She never would have slept with him, even had he responded to her small seductions. It was satisfying enough to know that she'd at least thrown him off stride. Apparently that was not going to be the case with the new commander, and that was not welcomed news. If she must have a jailer, she wanted it to be one that she commanded. Regina Mills' cool, aloof manner only heightened her desire to crack that perfect self control.

"The schedule. Yes. Let's get that over with," Emma responded with irritation, taking her coffee and moving into the sitting area.

Regina followed, noting the large work area in the far corner of the loft. Easels stood open holding canvases in various stages of completion, and other works leaned against every surface. Sunlight streamed through the skylights, illuminating the uncovered works. From the brief glimpse she got, it appeared that Emma Swan deserved her reputation as a serious artist. Regina took a seat across from Emma on one of two facing leather sofas. Emma tucked her legs under her as she curled gracefully into the cushions. Regina noted abstractly that the president's daughter was much more beautiful in the unconscious moments then when she used her considerable sexual power as a weapon. In the next instant, her mind had returned to the work at hand.

"I have you at a gallery opening uptown tomorrow, dinner at the White House New Year's Eve, and attending the Macy's parade back her in Manhattan with the mayor the next day," Regina read from the schedule. She looked to Emma for confirmation.

"Busy week," Emma muttered tersely. "That seems to be it. Are we done?"

Regina regarded her thoughtfully. She would have hated such intrusion, too, but there was nothing to be done about it. The fact that Emma Swan did not choose this life, it wasn't her, after all, who had run for public office was beside the point. And the hard part was yet to come.

"What about your personal plans?" Regina asked, her eyes steady on Emma's face. She would not apologize for what she needed to do, and she wanted it clear that she would not compromise her own responsibility or Emma's safety because of Emma's dislike for the situation.

"I don't have any," Emma responded lightly.

Regina leaned back, tossing the schedule aide. She smiled faintly. "I need to know anything you have planned, dinner engagements, a date for drinks, that sort of thing. If you don't know now, I'll need you to tell me as things come up. All you have to do is check in with the command post."

"I know all this, Agent Mills," Emma said testily.

"Yes, but apparently you're not fond of the routine."

"Would you be?"

"That's not the point. You are the daughter of the president of the United States. You don't need me to tell you we will be a discreet as we can be."

"Do you expect me to tell you when I plan on a sexual liaison too?" Emma asked bluntly.

"I don't need to know what you're doing so much as where you are doing it," Regina responded smoothly. She knew Emma was trying to get her to back off, and she could not relent now. "It would be preferable if you would inform us when you planned to stay the night somewhere other than here, for example. As you know, we need to plan evac routes, among other things."

"And if I don't know where I'll be staying the night?" Emma looked for some reaction.. Nothing but that unwavering gaze.

"Then I'll improvise." Regina took a breath. "One more thing. It's critical that I know with whom you'll be spending your time. Security is the priority, Ms. Swan. Unless it's someone you know well, and sometimes not even then, we cannot be assured of your safety. Everyone you spend time with needs clearance."

"You're joking."

"No, I'm not."

"What if I don't know them?" Emma's voice held challenge, and for an instant, bitterness.

"Then I would ask that you allow us to protect you at close range."

"Now that would be cozy." Emma leaned her head to one side and smiled lazily. "Into threesomes, Commander?"

Regina almost grinned, but she couldn't allow Emma to see it. "Private liaisons are particularly difficult for us, especially with unknown subjects, but I'll do my best to ensure discretion."

"You're a lot more direct than your predecessors, Commander. Aren't you afraid I'll complain about you? You could end up guarding osm eminor foreign diplomat on their tour of the Capitol, you know." Her tone was caustic, but she studied Regina with guarded respect. The new commander was definitely in a class of her own. Impossible to shock and clearly not intimidated by her. A refreshing change, but much more of a challenge than the others.

Regina didn't laugh then. "Ms. Swan, some people would consider that a plum assignment."

"Compared to this, you mean?"

"No not necessarily." Regina stood, refusing to be provoked. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Swan. Please call me at any time if there is anything you wish to discuss. I would like to review your itinerary each day. Let the command room know when it will be convenient for you to meet me, and please keep us advised on your plans."

"Oh, absolutely," Emma responded with a smile, her tone implying just how little that request meant to her. She remained seated as Regina left the room, thinking how attractive her tight, graceful body might be under other circumstances.

* * *

Graham Humbert looked up, raising an eyebrow slightly in inquiry, as his new boss walked into the command center. She appeared pensive but displayed none of the thinly veiled discomfort Daniels tried to hide after one encounters with Cobra. But then Graham didn't expect Mills to reveal anything. He couldn't remember the last time he had met anyone quite so impenetrable. Apparently, this was going to be a need to know operation.

"Anything unexpected?" He asked as she joined him

"Not so far." Regina settled a hip onto the edge of the work counter. "The public functions are as outlined. For the gallery opening tomorrow, I'll be inside with the day team. Have two people with the car outside. That means the afternoon and evening shift will split the duty."

He made a note. "Right."

"We can use some of the White House detail for the dinner at the White House on New Year's Eve. Have one team stay here to meet her pane when she returns for the parade. Give the rest leave." She ran a hand through her hair, mentally ticking off points of procedure. "Make sure the ground team has reviewed the route and confirmed the municipal security placements before Cobra lands on New Year's Day. We'll be on a tight schedule once we touch down at JFK, and I don't want any last minute adjustments."

"Done," he responded. He found her clear command attitude refreshing. He'd been impressed by the unspoken respect for Cobra's position that she voiced in the meeting earlier too. That and her firm position that they were there to protect the president's daughter, not have an easy time, was a welcome change. The undercurrent of dissatisfaction and criticism that had been the daily fare under the last command had been wearing on him. If she could turn that around, he was all for her.

"All of that is standard, Graham. In the future you can draw up the duty rosters. Just be sure I get a hard copy of who will be where."

"Yes ma'am." He waited, wondering how she was going to deal with the real problem.

"Ms. Swan will not confirm any personal plans, which puts us in a reactive mode. I do not want her to get away from us especially not now. I have a feeling she'll be testing our new command." She grimaced faintly. Testing me.

Graham nodded agreement. "More than likely. The problem is she's completely unpredictable."

"She is going to move you can be sure of that. Keep a car accessible in case she grabs a cab and have someone ready for foot pursuit preferably a woman. If she goes to a gay bar it might be easier if we have a woman on the inside."

"We've had lousy luck so far," Graham remarked. "Half the time we lose her in transit."

"That is no longer acceptable." Regina stood, stretching her cramped shoulders. "I'm going home. Page me the minute she steps out her door."

"Until what time?" Graham asked as he prepared to make a note.

"Any time," she said with finality. "If she isnt in her apartment I want to know about it."

"Yes ma'am," Mac responded crisply. He watched her glance once around the room as if assuring herself that all was in order before she left. He had a feeling Cobra was in for a surprise and he was looking forward to seeing it.

* * *

As Regina walked through her new apartment to the shower, she stripped, eager to wash away the effects of her foreshortened night and early morning flight. Eager also to cleanse the residue of her first meeting with her new charge from her mind and body. Unfortunately the second goal was difficult to attain.

The cool spray refreshed her physically but did little to ease the disquiet left from her briefing with Emma Swan. It was not just the younger woman's confrontational manner that had affected her, or even her attempts at seduction. That was clearly a game to the first daughter. It was her own reaction that angered her. She'd been unwillingly aroused and however unbidden she felt betrayed by the physical response. Worse, she'd been aware of the insistent pulse of stimulation long after she'd left Cobra's apartment. Even the shower hadn't completely eased the heaviness of unappeased arousal.

With an irritated shake of her head Regina pulled on running pants and a T-shirt. Christ, I can hardly be expected to control my involuntary nervous system. And here in New York there's no discreet way to relieve it. I'll just have to run it off. It sure as hell won't be the first time.

* * *

Emma Swan stood at one of the floor to ceiling windows of her penthouse loft watching the busy street below. She recognized Regina Mills immediately when she ran lightly down the steps of her brownstone and began to jog towards Central Park. Even though Regina very quickly disappeared into the crowds the afterimage of her lean form lingered in Emma's mind. She'd been thinking about her ever since their briefing this morning. As expected the new commander had been all business but Emma had sensed something different in this one. For an instant when Mills had been laying out the ground rules in her straightforward fashion it had seemed like she really cared. Not just about the job but about Emma.

Yeah right. What she cares about is what they all care about. Good status report.

She reached for the phone on a nearby end table and the hesitated before dialing. In all likelihood, the agents downstairs would record the call even if they didn't actually listen in. Ordinarily she didn't care but this was a conversation she wanted recorded. She switched to her cell phone and punched in a number from memory.

"Hey you," she said with a smile in her voice when the line was picked up on the second ring. "I knew you'd be working even though it's Saturday afternoon. Still trying to be the youngest assistant director?...mhmm... oh yeah sure." Emma listened for a moment and then laughed. "Of course I need a favor! Background check a Regina Mills. Listen this might be a tough one. She's Secret Service... Yes I know how much you are sacrificing. Just get me whatever you can. Call me as soon as you have something okay? And hey I know I owe you, really... What?...Not in this life time you won't."

As she replaced the receiver she contemplated calling downstairs to advise the team on the change of her plans. But then again why alter the routine now? The requests of her security chief had never mattered to her before. Still thinking of the intensity in Regina Mills' dark eyes she slipped into a brown leather bomber jacket and left her apartment.

* * *

The pager clipped to the waistband of the small pack Regina wore beeped just as she completed her first lap around the Central Park Reservoir. She dug out her cell phone punching numbers with barely a break in her stride.

"Mills."

"Cobra's on the move."

"Destination?"

"Unknown ma'am."

"Are we covering?"

"So far. She's on foot and we have he in visual."

"Good. Don't attempt to make contact. Just stay with her. I''ll be back to base in twenty minutes. Have a car ready."

"Very good Commander."

"And Stern?" Regina snapped as she picked up her pace threading her way around strollers and gawking tourists as she ran.

"Yes ma'am?"

"Tell them not to lose her."

"Yes ma'am."

Please God don't let us fuck this up the first day, Agent Katherine Stern thought as she relayed her commander's instructions to the Secret Service agents in pursuit of the president's daughter.

* * *

"Where is she?" Regina asked without preamble as she dumped her pack onto her bed and kicked off her running shoes. With the phone cradled against her shoulder she pushed down her sweat dampened navy pants, stepped free, and tugged up her T-shirt.

"At the Soho Gym," Stern replied with obvious relief.

"Do you have visual confirmation of that?"

"Yes ma'am. Ruby Lucas is inside."

Lucas. An image came to mind. Long dark hair, athletic build, youngest member of the team. Regina relaxed minimally. "Good then she's covered for the moment. I'm going to shower and change. If Cobra moves again before I check in call me."

Twenty minutes later Regina sat across the street from the Soho Gym watching the entrance. A metallic red Ford idling diagonally opposite her held two Secret Service agents doing the same thing. She didn't think they were aware of her. She wasn't watching them. She trusted her agents for this type of routine surveillance. She was there because she wanted to get a sense of Emma Swan. She wanted to know where she ate, where she stopped, where she went for entertainment, and where she spent her evenings. Then she would begin to feel she could protect her.

Four hours later Regina was beginning to fill in some of the blanks. From a distance she had observed Emma dine with an exquisitely beautiful woman in a small Italian restaurant in the West Village. From there the two had walked a few blocks to a neighborhood gay bar. Regina followed slowly in the car. They had taken their time along the way window shopping, browsing through a bookstore, purchasing espresso from a curbside stand, and perusing the display at an antique store. As they walked Emma touched the woman occasionally a palm on the small of her back, a brush of fingertips across the top of her hand.

Regina judged the movements to be friendly, but not especially intimate. If it was a date it was a casual one or else Emma Swan was fairly reserved. Regina smiled to herself, recalling Daniels' assessment of the president's daughter and her ways with women. Casual hadn't been the impression he'd given. And Emma Swan had been anything but reserved with her that morning. Remembering the brush of firm brests against her arm, she felt a brief spasm of renewed arousal. Jesus Christ what it the matter with me?

Annoyed, Regina focused on the bar across from where she sat. The two women were in there now, and so was one of her agents. She didn't really care if Emma saw him. The presence of the Secret Service should be anticipated. Regina had simply instructed him to keep his distance and not intrude upon them. Time passed and he had little to report.

It was well after midnight, Regina was beat, and she considered calling it a night. It didn't look like this was anything more than an evening out for Emma Swan, and the team assigned to shadow her seemed to have things under control. She was reaching for her radio to check out when she spotted Emma's companion hurry from the bar and hail a cab. Instantly alert, she keyed in the frequency of the agent in the bar.

"Schaefer, this is Mills. Do you have Cobra in visual?"

"Negative. She's in the restroom."

Regina switched channels. "Lucas get in there and check out that restroom."

"I'm on it," the female agent replied as she exited the car parked just down the street from the small corner bar.

The moments passed slowly until Regina's earpiece crackled to life.

"She's not in here Commander." Lucas announced.

"Recheck the entire bar. If she's not in there start a sweep of the surrounding area. She's on foot at least for now." Regina punched in the numbers to the command center on her cell phone as she simultaneously disengaged the radio. "Stern give me the address of all gay bars in a twenty block radius of this location, start with known locales first, particularly any Cobra has frequented recently."

While Regina waited for the computer to produce the information she considered the situation. Emma had intentionally evaded them, which was not all that hard to do since they weren't guarding her with the kind of manpower a criminal surveillance would demand. That was because Emma was supposed to be a friendly protectee. Now that the first daughter was out of their range she was a potential risk for kidnapping, or if documented in some compromising circumstances for blackmail. The fact that she was not easily identifiable as the presidents daughter was the only thing they had going for them. It was going to be a long tense night until they found her.

"I've got that list for you Commander," Stern said as she came online.

"Go," she said, her right hand on the small terminal in the center console. When the printout emerged, she scanned it quickly. There were six potentials in the immediate area. "Get Graham Humbert in to coordinate the teams. I'm going to check out the places at the top of the list."

"Got it." She signed off and shook her head grimly. Good luck.

Right, Regina muttered to herself as she locked her car and joined the crowds on the every busy street of Middlemist Village. Time to play hide and seek.

An hour later she paid her third cover charge of the evening and thanked a leather clad bouncer for a particularly garish skull and crossbones which she stamped on Regina's hand. Regina would never have known the boarded up facade contained a club if she hadn't been given the address. The place was a warehouse on a dingy block just off the Hudson, its interior space divided into several levels. There were at least two bars that she could see, dance floors scattered at random, and what appeared to be a warren of smaller rooms in the rear. The massive area was dimly lit with recessed red light, making it and its occupants resemble the scene of an accident.

The club was women only and predominantly, but not exclusively, a leather bar. Regina bought a beer and began to wander through the crowded main room. Toward the rear, twisting halls led off to other much smaller rooms all of which were full. Scene rooms, she quickly ascertained as she caught glimpses of shadowy shapes engaged in various forms of sexual activity. Women in pairs leaned against walls, their hands inside each other's clothing, while other stood nearby apparently watching. Herr and there someone knelt, face pressed to the space between parted thighs. At one point she had to move sideways against the wall to pass two women clearly on the verge of consummating their encounter, oblivious to those pressing close to observe their heated exchange. She glanced into each of the smaller areas only long enough to note that Emma Swan was not among the participants. Why she found that a relief, she didn't know.

As soon as she pushed her way into yet another dark bar at the far end of the long hallway, Regina saw Emma Swan on the far side of the room. The first daughter leaned against the bar, one leg braced on the foot rail, facing is Regina's direction. Quickly, Regina turned her back and stepped behind a group of women who were congregated near the wall. She lifted her left wrist and whispered her location into the microphone strapped there, issuing instructions to her agents concerning deployment of cars and ground positions. When Regina returned her attention to Emma Swan, the president's daughter had been joined by a heavily muscled blonde in black leather pants and a sleeveless vest, who pressed close against Emma in the crowded space. The stranger appeared to be whispering urgently into Emma's ear, while Emma gazed past her into the seething crowd of bodies on the small dance floor, her expression remote, as if her mind were elsewhere.

The leather clad woman was obviously trying to interest Emma in something a little more intimate than conversation, if her body language was any indication. She had stopped talking now and insinuated one leg on either side of Emma's thighs. The slow thrust of her hips was visible from across the room. The she kissed Emma's neck and ran a hand up the inside of blue jeaned thigh. She would have pressed a palm to the triangle between Emma's legs if Emma hadn't gripped her wrist, pushing the hand away at the last second. Throughout the entire exchange, the first daughter was silent, her face barely registering a response.

It was clear to Regina that no one knew or cared who Emma was. Everyone was absorbed in their own pursuit of sex, or whatever particular thrill they were seeking. Still, Regina needed to be sure Emma remained anonymous and she wasn't entirely sure how to do that. Calling attention to her by trying to remove her against her will certainly wasn't the best course of action. Plus, it was wrong. Despite the political ramifications, Emma Swan had every right to be there. Regina resigned herself to watching for the time being.

That proved to be more difficult than she had anticipated.

* * *

"You'd better slow down tiger," Emma murmured. "You're melting my leg."

"Oh man," the woman murmured hoarsely, her face close to Emma's ear. "You feel too good. You make me so hot... so fucking hot."

Emma edged away as much as the close space would allow, but her companion was not easily diverted. She trapped Emma against the bar with an arm on either side of her, riding Emma's leg harder, her motions jerky and tense. Emma turned her face away, avoiding an intended kiss. The woman's lips found her neck again instead, and a second later she slipped on hand inside Emma's shirt. The fingers fondling her breast had no particular effect on Emma, but it apparently did on her ardent suitor. Her companion monaed shakily and shuddered, clearly poised to climax right there at the bar.

"Jesus, easy," Emma warned, caught off guard by the stranger's quick rise to orgasm. It hadn't been her intention to let the woman go that far, and she was about to cool her down when her eyes swept the room and met those of Regina Mills. Emma was momentarily stunned.

Her security chief leaned against the opposite wall, dressed in jeans, a white shirt, and boots. Her expression was completely impassive, and she looked completely at home. Mills was also easily one of the sexiest women in the room and seeing her produced a jolt of excitement that even the woman about to come on her had not been able to elicit. The fact that Emma found the Secret Service agent attractive infuriated her, especially since she knew that the agent was only there to watch her. Well, go ahead and watch.

Keeping her eyes locked on Regina's, Emma cupped the strangers buttocks in her palms, squeezing the taut muscles in small tight circles, lifting her leg hard into the other woman's crotch.

"Oh fuck," the woman groaned, her entire body stiffening.

"Go ahead baby," Emma whispered in her companion's ear. "You want to, don't you?"

"Oh Jesus yes,"the stranger panted against her neck. "Oh, uhh oh I'm gonna come." She was so far gone all she sought was that elusive instant of bone melting release. "Oh yeah..."

Regina's gaze never strayed from the sexual display. Her face revealed no emotion, nor did Emma's, not even when Emma's partner in the drama shuddered into climax against her body. As the woman's spasms subsided, Emma extracted herself from her spent partner's embrace, grabbed her drink from the bar, and pushed her way into the crowd. She did not look back at the woman sagging against the counter, still gasping for breath, nor did she acknowledge the occasional appreciative comments her performance had elicited. She took her time crossing to Regina.

"Enjoy the show, Agent Mills?" She asked as she stepped to Regina's side. The press of the crowds brought her within inches of her security chief. She could make out a light sheen of sweat on Regina's skin in the soft red glow of the lights. The urge to run a finger down the center of Regina's chest was more arousing than the sex Emma had already forgotten.

Regina's eyes were steady as she returned Emma's gaze. She might have been embarrassed to witness the encounter had she sensed a shred of intimacy in it. It was erotic, of that there was no doubt. She knew she was wet, but the physical arousal did not disturb her. It was purely reflex and barely registered in her consciousness. She hadn't been the only one watching, although the interest of the others was of a different nature. They had taken vicarious pleasure from watching Emma drive the other woman to her knees with need. That fact, the impersonal nature of it, bothered her more than anything. Emma Swan struck her as worthy of so much more. But then that's not for me to decide, is it?

"I have a car outside when you're ready to leave," was all Regina said. She had no intention of involving herself in Emma Swan's personal affairs, nor of commenting on them. She might have to witness them if Emma continued with this kind of public encounter, but she didn't have to be a participant.

"And if I decide to walk home?"

"As you wish," Regina replied. "I'll arrange for someone to accompany you."

"I'm not sure I've had enough entertainment just yet," Emma said pointedly. "She was a little too fast. The tough ones can never hold out long."

Regina shrugged, refusing to be drawn into a conversation about the sexual display she had observed. "The car will be outside no matter how late you stay."

"And where will you be?"

"Inside here with you."

"Watching?" Emma's voice held a trace of bitterness.

"Only as much as I have to," Regina replied softly, realizing as she said it how true the words were. She wanted to keep Emma safe, not watch her have sex with strangers.

Emma sipped her Cosmopolitan, the only drink she'd had all evening. She might like to walk on the wild side, but she wasn't a fool. Studying Regina's face, she tried to gauge her attitude from her expression and found that she couldn't. The security chief leaned against the wall, completely relaxed, her tone friendly, her face composed. To anyone watching, they might be any two women in the first exploratory stages of a typical bar encounter. Except Emma knew they weren't, and as much as Agent Mills made it appear that Emma had some choice in the rest of the evening, the truth was that the moment they had found her, her freedom had ended. She set her glass down hard on the nearest table.

"You don't make it as my choice for an escort, Commander," she said bitingly. "I'm going home."

Regina followed Emma out to the street at a discreet distance, and once she saw her climb into the car with two of her agents, she headed tiredly toward her own car. As she walked the few blocks in the dark, she tried not to replay the image of a strange woman surrendering to passion in Emma Swan's cold embrace.


	4. Chapter 4

Graham was surprised to see the commander walk in at 0700 on Sunday. The report from the night watch said it was she who had picked up Cobra's trail and tracked her down in the late hours of the night. Interestingly, there was no report on the surveillance  
inside the bar. Mills would have to do that herself, and thus far she hadn't. He nodded hello as she poured coffee and joined him at the large central workstation.

"How long have you been on this detail, Graham?" She asked conversationally. She'd had three hours' sleep, and after rising, had worked out in the command center's gym for an hour. After showering in the agent's locker room, she dressed in the jeans and  
polo shirt she'd packed in her gym bag.

"Since the president's nomination," he replied.

"Is that true for the rest of the team?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"And have things been this out of hand the entire time?"

Graham held his breath for a second, trying to judge who he might potentially offend that mattered. He couldn't think of anyone. He expelled the breath almost gracefully. "Worse. At least last night we found her. There have been a half dozen nights, and  
one whole weekend, when we didn't know where she was."

"Christ," Regina muttered. "How in the hell did you keep that quiet?"

"Cobra's not stupid." Graham grimaced at the understatement. "She knew we'd have to hit the panic button if she was completely out of control, so she called in every few hours, randomly, from pay phones or her cell, to prove she was okay. We couldn't  
trace the calls, so we just ran around like assholes the whole time trying to find her."

"No repercussions?"

"Cobra's got a lot of pull with her old man. If someone complains about her, and it gets back to him, it had better be serious or you're looking for a new job. And he doesn't seem to think a little joyriding is too serious."

"I do," Regina said flatly. "And since we're not going to get any help from above. We'll have to stay tight on her. But don't get in her way. She's most likely to run if we crowd her."

"I think everyone understands the plan."

"See that they do." Her voice was stone.

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

At 3:00 p.m., Emma emerged from her apartment building carrying her coat over one arm, nodded to the agent holding the door open for her, and climbed into the rear of a black Suburban waiting at the curb. Regina Mills was already inside. This was a pre-publicized  
event and Secret Service was expected. The interior of the spacious vehicle was warm; the glass partition between the passenger area and the front seat where two other agents sat was closed.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Swan," Regina remarked as the SUV pulled into traffic. The first daughter had dressed for the gallery opening in a simple cream colored dress. The thin straps accentuated the toned muscles of her shoulders and arms, while the scooped  
neck revealed just a hint of cleavage. The dress spoke of taste and understand elegance. It was hard for Regina to believe that the graceful woman sitting across from her was the same one she had seen engaged in anonymous sex just hours before. But  
then public persona was so often merely a façade. She knew that from experience.

"Agent Mills, we meet again. Are you to be my date?" Emma asked mildly. She noted that her security chief looked well attired for the semiformal gathering in a charcoal gray silk suit and monochromatic shirt, fashionably cut and beautifully tailored to  
her long, tight form. This is one public servant who doesn't buy her clothes off the rack.

"I was planning on coming inside after you made your entrance." The guest list was a mixture of every important art collector in the city, many of the noted artists, and a smattering of politicians. Regina had photos of everyone, and invitations would  
be required for admission to the Soho gallery. They had an advance team already in place doing routine crowd surveillance, and three agents would be curious onlookers gathered outside. Regina planned on being inside with two other agents, while the  
second team waited in the car. "It's not the best idea for me to be too easily identified, for those times we'd prefer none of us be recognized."

"Times like last night, you mean?" Emma's laugh was brittle. "When it might be embarrassing?"

"For those times when you might like as much privacy as possible." Regina amended quietly.

Emma stared at her. "You'd like me to think you care?"

Regina shrugged lightly, a small smile flickering at the corner of her mouth. "The happier you are, the happier I am going to be."

Emma laughed again, this time wit no restraint. "You are honest at least, although I am not sure how far that will get you."

"It's the only card I have to play." Regina said seriously.

"Your approach is certainly novel, Commander." Emma surveyed her coolly. "I'm used to strong armed tactics, 'behave or else'. No one has tried the humble 'I'm just here to look after you' routine before. I suppose you think I'll fall for that and suddenly  
bare my soul for you?"

Her tone mockingly suggestive, and her frank survey of Regina's body left little question of her intent. She shifted slightly on the leather seat, exposing an expanse of smooth, well muscled thigh.

Regina smiled, unperturbed. No matter how attractive Emma Swan was, and she was damned attractive, Regina had no intention of being sidetracked. "If I cant do my job without getting in your way, I will. As much as that is possible. I'll see that that  
happens. There'll be times when it's impossible. I'll apologize in advance for that."

"But you won't bend the rules, not even as a favor?" Emma questioned softly, her tone heavy with innuendo. "I can be very generous with my payment."

"No." Regina stated flatly. She bent her head slightly as a voice in her ear appraised her of their location. Looking up, she caught the surprise in Emma's eyes before her elegant features set into an expression of arrogant dismissal.

"We're almost there," Regina informed her. "One of the agents will walk you in."

"I know the drill," Emma snapped, irritated at the agent's implacable demeanor. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe Mills is straight after all. But the way she looked in the bar last night! So damned hot. And she seemed so comfortable in there.

Knowing Regina was watching from across the room while the stranger in leather took pleasure form her body had been an incredible turn on, more exciting for her than anything the woman had been doing. That realization had unsettled her, and she wanted  
Regina to feel as disquieted as she had the night before. So far, she hadn't been able to crack her cool chief's cool exterior. If she couldn't unbalance Regina in some way, it was going to be very difficult to be very difficult to elude her and he  
watchdogs.

"Enjoy the opening, Ms. Swan," Regina said quietly as she slid from the vehicle and held the door for her. Emma did not grace her with a response.

* * *

A willowy blonde in a form fitting navy silk sheath greeted Emma with an affectionate hug and whispered softly, "Hey darlin'. I called you all last evening. Out on the prowl?"

Emma returned Ashley Boyd's hug then shrugged imperceptibly, aware of the reporters nearby "For a while."

They moved away form the crowd milling around the small bar where the obligatory wine and cheese was being offered. Emma smiled at the people she knew as well as those she didn't. She had so much practice as this, she barely registered the faces any longer.

"Get lucky?" Ashley probed with the slightest edge in her voice. They had known each other for years, since schooling at Lubavitch, where they had been lovers briefly. There had been more than one time since then that Ashley wished they still were. There  
were moments when she caught sight of Emma unexpectedly, and her breath would catch with sudden desire. Emma was beautiful, talented, intelligent, and emotionally remote. Just the kind of challenge Ashley liked in her women. When she looked at the  
cool, self contained woman beside her, she barely remember the eager, open young girl with whom she had shared love and simple, unbridled sexual pleasure. She hadn't caught a glimpse of her in years.

"Depends on how you define lucky." Emma's smile was brittle. "I enjoyed her."

"Did she enjoy you?" Ashley pushed, knowing full well Emma rarely allowed her sexual conquests the pleasure of having her. Which was one of the reasons Ashley stayed attached. Like the exquisite, one of a kind work of art she brokered, Ashley lusted after  
the exceptional, the singular, the one thing that no one else had. She wanted to be the one to wrest a cry of passion from those beautiful lips, to break the silence of Emma's isolation.

"She got what she was looking for." A warning flickered in Emma's green eyes. There were places where even her oldest friend was not welcome. "She left satisfied."

Yes, but did you? Ashley wisely decided to let it go. There was business at hand. She surveyed the room, pleased at the turnout. Whenever she showed Emma's paintings, there was interest. Some of it, of course, was due to Emma's notoriety, but most of  
it was due to her genuine talent. The collectors were beginning to buy her work, recognizing its value. It wasn't a solo showing this time, but Emma was the featured artist.

"Where's your new spooky?" Ashley asked.

"Directly across the room. She just came in," Emma responded. Regina Mills was looking casually in their direction without seeming to focus on them. She was good. Emma knew perfectly well that she was the only thing her security chief was looking at.  
She also knew that the handsome agent only saw her as an assignment, an object to be moved, contained, and controlled on some giant cheeseboard. Emma might be the queen, but she had been stripped of her power. She was ruled by pawns, and she hated  
it. Especially when her keeper was a woman so attractive that she felt a twinge of desire every time she saw her. That made her even more eager to escape those intense brown eyes.

"Oh my," Ashley murmured, following Emma's gaze. She took in the lean physique and androgynous features in one swift, appraising glance. "Now she is tantalizing."

Irked at the suggestive tone in Ashley's voice and even more irritated at her own surge of possessiveness, Emma snapped, "Yeah, if she isn't being paid to watch you."

"I'd almost be willing to pay for that," Ashley rejoined, ignoring the edge in Emma's tone. She had never let friendship stand in the way of her attraction to another woman, and if Emma was interested too, that just intensified the challenge. This one  
looked like she would take some work though. There was a nearly visible barrier around her, her indifference shouting look if you want to, I could care less. Ashley loved bringing those untouchable types to their knees, so to speak.

"You need to mingle darlin'," Ashley said as she moved away. "And so do I if I am going to sell anything."

Emma watched her seductively little friend melt into the crowd, wondering how long it would take her to get around to Regina Mills. Frowning at the surge of concern. Emma turned with a smile to the director of the Museum of Modern Art, greeting him by  
name without a hint of her inner disquiet.

* * *

"It's a shame you can't enjoy the artwork," Ashley said softly as she moved next to Regina. "Not that watching Emma isn't enjoyable, of course." She extended on longed fingered hand, a diamond almost large enough to be ostentatious, but so beautiful as  
to be merely breathtaking, sparkled on her right ring finger. "I'm Ashley Boyd, Emma's agent."

"How do you do." Regina nodded politely, knowing full well exactly who the sophisticated women beside her was, and intentionally not revealing her own name. "I have managed a glance or two at the works. You have a fine collection."

"See anything you like?" Ashley queried teasingly. She didn't see the point in being coy. She was well beyond that point in her life. She allowed one leg to rest gently against Regina's trousered thigh. It could have been the press of the crowd that brought  
her so close, but they both knew it wasn't.

"Actually, yes." Regina registered the contact and the heat of Ashley's leg against hers. She knew if she glanced down she would see the creamy expanse of the woman's breasts revealed by the low scoop of her softly clinging dress. She didn't look down.  
She gazed past her, instead, to where Emma stood in conversation with a young man who resembled every stereotype of struggling young artist she had ever seen, right down to the rumpled tweed jacket and scraggly beard. She kept her eyes on the as they  
spoke.

"There's a series of sketches, nudes, on the far right wall. Charcoal on paper. They're hers, aren't they?"

Ashley studied her in surprise. She doubted many people had paid any attention to the small sketches in the midst of the large oils and other large canvases. But that wasn't the real reason for her careful answer.

"The artist is Mandy Singer."

"Uh-huh," Regina replied with a slight smile. "Ms. Singer's strokes resemble those of Ms. Swan, as does the use of light and shadow and spatial relationship. Of course, the president's daughter probably isn't interested in studies of female nudes. Are  
they for sale?"

"Yes," Ashley replied, intrigued and immensely attracted.

"And the transactions are confidential?"

"If the buyer desires. Once the works are consigned to me, the buyer becomes my client."

"The buyer wishes to remain anonymous," Regina stated smoothly, shifting her position slightly to keep Emma in sight.

Ashley caught her breath as Regina's arm unintentionally brushed her breast. She felt her nipple harden, painfully pleasant, and knew it was visible beneath the sheer material of her dress. How is it possible to be this aroused by someone who is practically  
ignoring you?

"I guarantee it," Ashley managed, her voice husky.

"Thank you."

"Need we discuss price?" Ashley asked, getting her hormones under control. She was a businesswoman, after all.

"That won't be necessary."

"Perhaps you'll allow me to take you to lunch then to discuss the details." As she spoke Ashley rested her fingers on Regina's forearm, gently squeezing the hard muscles beneath the fine fabric.

Regina met her gaze fully for the first time, reading the invitation in them. "Lunch would be fine. I'll call."

"Yes, please do."


	5. Chapter 5

When the phone rang, Emma was in the middle of a very interesting dream that had something to do with a dark haired woman with extremely talented hands. Groaning, she groped for the portable phone, knowing she'd suffer from the unreturned erotic visions all morning.

"Emma Swan," she snapped.

"Are you awake?"

"Not yet Lily." Emma replied irritably as she slipped naked from the bed, the phone in one hand. "What time is it?"

"Time for me to be in a meeting. Talk to me now or wait until God only knows when."

"Did you get what I need?"

"More or less. I don't think this is going to make you very happy."

Emma sighed as she pulled her robe around herself and stumbled toward the kitchen and her first cup of coffee. "Tell me."

"In a nutshell, she's not going to be easy to slip away from. Twelve years in the investigation division. Her specialty was tracking Colombian drugs paid for by counterfeit U.S. dollars. Crooks scamming crooks. Apparently she was very good at it."

Emma watched the coffee drip into the pot, her thoughts swiftly calculating. "Why is she suddenly assigned to protection? What aren't you telling me?"

"There are substantial holes in the intel on her. As a matter of record, she was involved in a multijurisdictional mess earlier this year. The Secret Service had surveillance units watching a drug factory on the outskirts of D.C. Apparently the ATF was involved because they thought the same guys were trafficking guns in addition to the phony money. Unbeknownst the either federal agency, the D.C. narcotics unit had an agent undercover with the drug boys."

"Jesus," Emma muttered. "Sounds like a recipe for disaster."

"You got that right. Somehow the Colombians got wind that a bust was coming, and the narcotics detective's cover was blown. The bust went bad, and she was killed in a shoot out. Regina Mills was shot trying to warn the undercover narc seconds before the whole place went crazy."

Emma's stomach tightened. "She was shot?"

"In the leg apparently. That's not the whole story though."

"What is?"

"We're talking about one of the good guys here Emma." Her caller hesitated. Even friendship had its limits. "Mills has an excellent reputation."

"I don't intend to corrupt it," Emma snapped.

"There are rumors, not many, and no one will commit to knowing anything for sure. She's a hero, well liked by her colleagues-"

"All right! I get your point. You don't want to tell me, but you will. Because if you don't, I'll make sure you're never an assistant director."

"Emma!"

"I'm kidding, and you should know that, if you don't after all these years." Emma took a deep breath and got her temper under control. "Tell me who she is, Lily. She's got control over my life."

"Deep sources say the narcotics dick who was killed was her lover."

"Christ!" Emma breathed. That was not something she wanted to think too much about. She knew about loss, and she knew how long it hurt.

"That may explain the change in assignments," Lily remarked. "A thing like that can ruin your field work."

Emma pictured the dark eyed, focused woman who had tracked her down at the bar with seeming ease two nights before. None of the other agents had ever been able to find her once she had slipped into the shadows. Or at least none had ever dared to.

"I don't think she's ruined for anything Lily. She's ice."

"That would be fit."

"What do you mean?"

"There's one other rumor buried so deep I'm not even sure it's her they're talking about."

Emma sat on the edge of the stool at her breakfast bar, her coffee cold and forgotten. "What is it?"

"You've heard of the very hush hush escort service the operates on the Hill?"

"You mean the one that provides all kinds of companions, boys, girls, either or both, for senators, dignitaries, and supposedly my father?"

"I don't know a thing about your father!"

"It doesn't matter one way or another to me," Emma said wearily. "He leaves me alone, that's all I care about. What's this got to do with Mills? Is she trying to shut it down?"

"Might be she is using it."

Emma caught her breath, then laughed mockingly. "Your sources haven't seen Regina Mills. Believe me Lily, she does not have to pay for sex."

"Maybe she wants to."

"Come again?"

"No strings, no attachment, nothing to lose."

"I forgot you are a psychologist," Emma commented dryly. She finally sipped her coffee. "So what you're telling me is that my new keeper has no weaknesses I might exploit to make a little breathing room for myself?"

"None that I could find."

"Wonderful."

Emma gently replaced the receiver, her annoyance warring with her curiosity. Everyone had a secret, and everyone had a weakness, even her. She had just been lucky enough to keep hers hidden all her life. So, apparently, had Regina Mills.

* * *

At exactly 11:00 a.m., a knock sounded at the door. Emma answered knowing who it was.

"Always punctual Commander?" She asked as she turned away, leaving Regina to follow her into the loft. As she walked, she caught back her wild blonde hair with a headband fashioned from a red bandana. She pushed sweats and other gear that had been laid out on the couch into a gym bag, ignoring Regina as she packed.

"I thought we might go over the plans for the trip to D.C. and New Year's Eve," Regina suggested, leaning against the back of the couch.

"What's to review," Emma said dismissively. "You'll escort me to the airport, another hired guard will pick me up at the airport and deposit me at the White House. There I will play dutiful daughter, pose for a few photos, and celebrate surviving another year." She glanced at Regina with a shrug.

"I would like to have the itinerary in advance so I can brief my team. Shall we plan on departure at 3:00 p.m. Wednesday?"

Emma finally faced her fully, her green eyes flashing with irritation. "I am in the habit of setting my own schedule."

"That's why I'm here," Regina replied evenly.

"Do you spar Agent Mills?" Emma asked suddenly.

"As in hand to hand combat?"

"As in karate?"

Regina hesitated momentarily at a loss as to where they were headed. Emma Swan did not make casual conversation. "Not exactly. I don't spar, I'm a mat stylist. I-"

"Then let's talk about the travel arrangements after we work out. I was just leaving for the gym. You can use some of my gear."

Regina stared at her. This was not a good idea. She was paid to protect her, not socialize with her. She didn't care how it might look to others, but she was worried about maintaining professional distance. Emma was hard enough to handle without adding the confusion of any sort of personal relationship.

Stalling, Regina said, "If you're going out, I need to alert my people-"

"I'm outta here." Emma grabbed her bag, brushing past Regina. "You coming or not?"

Regina had no other choice. She either went with her or allowed her to leave the building alone and hoped that one of her agents picked her up before Emma lost them in crowds on the street. She hurried after her activating her radio as she went.

"Graham you there?" She whispered urgently.

"Yeah boss," Graham answered immediately.

"Cobra is moving. Get someone downstairs in a car."

"Roger that. You keeping her company?"

Affirmative, but I want backup, and make sure everyone is mobile." She shouldered into the elevator just as the doors began to slide closed. Emma leaned against the rear wall watching her with an amused expression on her face. Regina clicked off the radio, clipped it back on her belt and stared at her. She was more annoyed than angry but she kept her expression neutral.

"You don't like it do you?" Emma asked.

"Like what?" Regina asked evenly.

"Not being in control, not knowing what's going to happen one moment to the next."

"If we're speaking about my work, you're right. It's my job to be in the know, to have control of the situation. That's what I'm paid to do."

Emma studied her, unable to read anything in her smooth even features or her clam tone. The elevator doors opened into the foyer, and she saw two agents waiting near the door. She shook her head impatiently.

"Tell them to leave us alone," she said unexpectedly. There was a hint of something desperate in her voice.

"The gym?" Cam responded.

"Yes."

Regina spoke into her radio. "We're walking to the gym. Follow us in the car."

Regina and Emma stepped out into a brisk clear morning as the two men moved past them into the car that sat idling at the curb. It slowly drifted through traffic behind them as they turned south towards the gym.

"Are you really serious about protecting me?" Emma inquired of Regina, who walked beside her, constantly scanning the street ahead of them and the cars that passed alongside.

"Of course."

"Why?"

"Because you need it, and because I have been asked to do it."

"Would you actually take a bullet for me?" Emma asked mockingly.

"Yes," Regina answered sharply. A muscle clenched in her jaw, and a storm rose in her brown eyes. She locked eyes with Emma, searching for some hint of what she was after. She had no doubt there was a point to this, Emma's green eyes were defiant, and just searching.

"You've had some practice at that haven't you?" Emma probed. Finally a swift intake of breath and a slight falter in Regina's step rewarded her as the question struck home. She does have a weakness, she thought triumphantly.

When Regina failed to answer Emma pushed. "It's a matter of record you know."

"Then you know all there is to know," Regina replied stiffly, fighting to keep the image of Eva's face from her mind. She would not allow the memories to intrude here, not when she needed all her focus on protecting the woman next to her. Everything else is in the past, gone, over, dead.

"Really?"

"As you said," calmer now, "it's a matter of record."

Emma laughed. "We all know how accurate the records are, don't we, Agent Mills?"

* * *

Their destination was not the trendy health club where Emma practiced yoga and aerobics that Regina had expected. Emma led her swiftly past the expected entrance and turned down an adjacent ally. Regina groaned inwardly when Emma grabbed her arm and directed her up a flight of narrow, littered stairs in a run down tenant building. They went through a double set of steel door into a huge room on the third floor. It was a gym of sorts.

The clientele was mostly male. Worn punching bags hung from chains attached to the rafters, and men in torn T-shirts or no shirts at all pounded at them. Heavily muscled lifters grunted and sweated at the free weight benches tucked into every possible corner. Two elevated boxing rings dominated the center of the space, one currently occupied by a pair of fighters making a serious effort to score off each other. Regina was willing to bet there were half a dozen felons in the room, any one of whom probably knew exactly who Emma Swan was.

"Have you been here before?" She asked, trying to sound casual as she weaved her way around bodies, following Emma toward the rear.

"Three times a week for eighteen months."

Regina was furious. No one had told her about this place – she had no background on the members, no idea of the physical layout, and no prayer of guarding Emma effectively. How in hell had this been overlooked?

As if reading her mind, Emma commented, "They don't know about it."

"How?"

Emma grinned, an altogether spontaneous and disarming grin. Or it might have been if Regina hadn't been so angry. "They think I'm at my therapist's office around the corner most of the time."

"Back door?"

"Uh huh."

Regina didn't ask her why. There was no need to. She knew why. Pointing out the danger would be meaningless. Emma obviously cared less for her safety than for her freedom, and that was probably the result of having people like herself constantly shadowing her for the last fifteen years of her life. What mattered to Regina now was that something similar not happen again.

"Here we are," Emma announced, pulling back the curtain to a small cramped dressing room not much bigger than a walk in closet. A shower stall and toilet were visible behind a rickety screen in the back. Emma tossed her bag down and in one fluid motion pulled off her shirt. She caught Regina off guard and laughed knowingly as Regina's eyes flickered once to her breasts before she quickly looked away.

"You can grab sweats and a tee shirt from my bag. There's plenty," Emma informed her as she continued to strip. She watched Regina unabashedly as she changed. She knew Regina was aware of her view, although she gave no sign of it. Regina had the kind of body Emma expected – lean and hard-muscled, a tightly coiled machine. She imagined making those muscles quiver with desire, watching Regina's rigid control break with need. The power of the image stirred a flush of arousal so keen it made her gasp. If Regina heard, she gave no sign of it. She reached for a pair of sweats without hurrying.

Emma looked at the ten inch scar that ran down the outside of Regina's right thigh. It was still fresh enough that it hadn't lost the redness. As Regina pulled the pants up, Emma asked, "Is your leg okay?"

"Yes, it is."

Regina pulled on a tee shirt that said 'Ernie's Gym'. She faced Emma, who stood appraising her. The President's daughter wore a sleeveless tee, torn off a couple of inches below her high firm breasts, and baggy sweats. Sleek well-toned muscles defined her arms and legs. Her exposed midriff was taut, and she sported a small gold ring in her navel. Untamed blonde strands escaped from the red headband, wilding around her face. Her green eyes glinted with brazen sensuality. She was a beautiful animal.

"I take it this is Ernie's?" Regina remarked dryly, refusing to be distracted by Emma's open seduction. The time when the promise of a body like that might have interested her was past. The price of possession was too high.

"This is Ernie's," Emma rejoined, pushing the curtain aside. She wasn't bothered by Cam's rejection. She would have been disappointed had it been easy. What bothered her was the undeniable throbbing in her own body. Desire was a weakness, one she exploited in others, but avoided personally. There were too many ways in which other people controlled her. She would not allow another.

* * *

Regina's head snapped back as a kick landed along her jaw.

"Are you sure you don't want a helmet," Emma called, a hint of laughter in her voice. She moved lightly on the canvas, her gloved hands at chest level. Regina faced her, wearing no gloves or other protective gear.

"No thanks," Regina responded, gauging the reach of Emma's legs with respect. When the next kick came she stepped off the line of the trajectory and deflected it with a forearm. She expected a follow-up punch, and she blocked that as well. She stepped back once again to a middle range, trying to get a feel for Emma's tactics. Emma moved lightly on the canvass, agile and supple. Emma was a kickboxer, and used her feet as weapons in the ring. Regina was trained for the street. Emma attacked relentlessly, mixing kicks, double kicks and strikes with considerable skill. Some scored, although none would have done damage had they been full force.

Regina deflected, blocked and redirected her opponent's efforts. She was trained to immobilize and neutralize, and those techniques were not designed for sparring. She knew she couldn't defend this way for long, there was a good chance Emma would make serious contact with one of her kicks. As a sweeping roundhouse kick approached her head, Regina stepped forward into Emma's body, so close to her that the kick lost its force. She trapped Emma's leg with her near arm, grasped the shoulder of Emma's shirt with her other hand, and swept Emma's remaining leg out from under her. Regina held onto her to break her fall, following her down to the mat, and pinned her face down with a shoulder pin.

"Son of a bitch!" Emma muttered as she struggled briefly to lift her torso off the canvass. She stopped when the pressure on her shoulder increased slightly. She wasn't damaged, but she was effectively immobilized.

"If you tap the mat, I'll release you," Regina said softly into her ear. "But you must promise not to punch me as you get up. Rules of war."

Emma laughed as she slapped the mat. She rolled over and found Regina kneeling beside her, a half smile on her face.

"You okay?" Regina asked.

"Dandy. I suppose you'll do that again if we start over?"

"I told you I didn't spar," Regina said as they both got to their feet. "You'd crush me."

"No, I don't think so," Regina replied softly, stripping off her gloves. "You mind showing me that technique?"

Regina glanced outside the ring, realizing they had drawn quite a crowd. She wasn't sure this was a good time for a lesson, especially when she had no one inside the building. She couldn't very well survey the people around them if she was flat on her back. Emma followed her gaze, her smile disappearing in irritation.

"They don't know me," she said flatly.

Regina saw the resentment in her eyes, and shook her head slightly. "You can't know that."

"I know," Emma insisted. "I always know." She took a deep breath, then added in a whisper, "please."

Regina swept the group leaning on the ropes one more time. "All right."

She demonstrated at half speed several times while Emma watched intently. Then she launched a kick toward Emma's head, ready to pull back if Emma failed to execute the technique. Emma quickly countered and took Regina down soundly to the cheers of the onlookers. Regina found herself on her back with Emma above her, Emma's bent forearm pressed to Regina's neck. Emma pressed her knee between Regina's legs and leaned forward until their faces were nearly touching. Her lips were a breath away.

"If you don't slap the mat, I can make this feel a whole lot better," Emma whispered.

Regina gasped as Emma rocked her thigh against Regina's pelvis. For a second all she felt was the fire, igniting instantly into a consuming ache. She caught back a moan, shook her head to clear it, and in one upward thrust, dislodged Emma from on top of her. She was on her feet quickly, and in the next instant had vaulted over the ropes and out of the ring.

"She's too much for you, huh girl?" a burly man next to her said good naturedly.

"You got that right," Regina responded lightly. She waited as Emma climbed down, then followed her into the dressing room.

"I need to shower," Emma informed her, pulling off her clothes. Regina struggled to silence the remnants of unwanted desire.

"I'll wait outside."

"What are you afraid of, Agent Mills?" Emma taunted lightly as she stood naked before her. "I felt you, you know."

"Take your time," Regina said evenly as she stepped out through the curtain. Emma's laughter followed her even as the throbbing in her pelvis reminded her of her own weakness.

* * *

Regina slammed the office door hard enough that the glass enclosure rattled. Six agents sat slumped around the table, staring at their pens. Regina stood at the end of the table, breathing heavily, trying to contain her anger.

"How many of you have been on this detail longer than six months?" she asked at length, her words clipped. There was a moment of silence, then Graham cleared his throat.

"All of us, ma'am."

"All of you." She looked them over one at a time. "All of you."

"Yes ma'am," he responded.

"Obviously none of you are capable of this assignment, nor worthy of it. Emma Swan, the daughter of the President of the United States, has been criminally unprotected for months, and not one of you reported it? Even if I could overlook your lack of responsibility to her, which I can't, it is impossible to excuse your silence regarding the potential danger to national security. Were she kidnapped it would threaten the presidency." Leaning forward, both hands flat on the table, she said succinctly, "I want a request for transfer from everyone of you on my desk in one hour."

As Regina turned toward the door, Ruby Lucas stood abruptly. "Commander!"

"Yes?" Regina questioned.

"I don't want a transfer, ma'am. I want this detail."

"Really? And why is that?"

Lucas took a deep breath. "Because she is my responsibility, and because I can do what no one else can. I've spent months following her through half the gay bars in this city. I am recognized, and I'm accepted. I can go where most of the others can't. You need an inside person, and that's me."

Regina regarded her silently.

Ruby met Regina's gaze. "I should have filed a report sooner. We lose her regularly, and it's always because we're never informed of her route, or she changes it, or she intentionally lies to us. We're all frustrated, but that's no excuse."

"You're right. That's no excuse for what you all have been participating in. Regardless of Ms. Swan's actions, it is your sworn duty to guard her. If you don't have what it takes, you don't belong here. I don't want anyone on this team who doesn't want to be here." She looked over the group. "I'll see that there are no consequences if you request transfer now, but I guarantee I will see you posted to an embassy in Africa if you fuck up on my detail."

An hour later, Graham knocked on the door to Regina's eight by ten office.

"Commander?"

Regina studied his boyishly handsome face. His blue eyes were serious.

"Are you staying or leaving, Graham?"

"I'm staying if you want me. Two men want transfers, they're bringing the paperwork. I'm sorry I fucked up. If you don't trust me…"

Regina stopped him with a raised hand. "I need a good coordinator, Graham. We have an uncooperative target, nothing is going to change that. We are going to have to be able to readjust personnel, vehicle placement, even motor routes at a moment's notice. I need to be with her, consistently, persistently, until she figures out that we are not going away."

She saw the look of disbelief he quickly tried to hide. She laughed, the tension easing from her shoulders for the first time since she left the gym. "Yeah, I know. I'm dreaming. You'll be the desk jockey most of the time we're here, and the communication center when we're not. Are you in or not?"

He favored her with a brilliant smile. "I'm in."

"Good, then find me replacements for the two who are leaving. I don't even want to see the files until you've been through them. And Graham, we both know what the problem has been. If there's even a hint of homophobia, I don't want them on this assignment. Emma Swan's lifestyle is not our concern, and shouldn't affect the way we do the job. I want that clear."

"Yes ma'am. I understand."

"Good. We'll brief for the trip to Washington at 0700."

As soon as her second in command closed the door, Regina leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. She didn't want to think about her response to Emma's sexual advance at the gym, but she had to. She could not afford to be distracted, and there was no denying the effect Emma had on her. Fortunately, it was purely physical, and they would be in Washington in two days. She could satisfy the insistent demands of her body then.


	6. Chapter 6

Regina was the last one on the plane. The cabin space was small, and Emma sat alone near the rear. Three other agents had boarded earlier and occupied the area just behind the cockpit. Regina nodded to them as she moved toward the rear, finally settling in the seat across the aisle from Emma. She stretched her legs into the aisle and pulled a stack of memos from her briefcase.

"Do you have plans for tonight, Agent Mills?" Emma asked. She liked the semi-casual look of Regina's pressed khaki chinos and matching blazer over a cotton broadcloth shirt. The only way she liked her better was in the tight faded jeans she wore when she was off duty. Emma remembered very well how good Regina looked in those. In fact, every time she thought about that night in the bar she wanted nothing more than to get her hands inside those jeans. For the moment at least, that seemed unlikely.

Regina smiled, shaking her head slightly. "No plans. Happy Birthday, by the way."

Emma flushed slightly, then reminded herself the agent was only being polite, like most of the people in her life. She leaned forward, lowering her voice as she spoke. "Why thank you. I don't suppose a birthday kiss is in the offing?"

Regina glanced at her, aware of how attractive she was, then back at the papers before her. "No."

They did not speak for the rest of the flight.

Regina accompanied Emma across the drive to the private entrance to the White House. She stopped at the door as a guard opened it for Emma.

"I'll see you in the morning, Ms. Swan," she said. The door swung shut with no response from the President's daughter. The White House Security staff would be responsible for her safety from this point until she was ready to leave the next day. Regina was looking forward to a day off, and a relaxing evening.

* * *

A little after 9:00 p.m., Regina stretched out on the couch with a drink and watched the scene outside her living room window. From her apartment she could see the White House in the distance. She wondered how Emma was managing, then put that thought out of her mind. Tonight, she did not have to worry about her. She reached for the phone, checked to see that the scrambler was functional, and dialed.

"This is number 16413," she said as a female voice answered. "I'd like to confirm my arrangement for tonight." She waited for a moment as her client ID number was verified. "Yes, 11:00 at..." She hesitated as her beeper went off. "Just a second," she added, checking the number. It was the White House. "I'll have to call you back. It could be later. Yes keep it open, I'll take care of the additional time. Thank you."

She pushed the other line, keeping the scrambler engaged. "Roberts," she said seriously.

"Commander? It's Graham. I'm sorry to bother you, but I thought you'd want a call."

"Graham?" She said in surprise. "What are you doing there? What's going on?"

"I'm not supposed to be here. She's gone, Commander. They lost her an hour ago."

"God damn it," she cursed. "What do the ground teams report? What's the search status?"

There was a beat of silence. "Uh...they aren't looking for, exactly the team leader here didn't want anyone to know she'd gone out and decided to let her come in on her own. When it started getting late a buddy of mine called me on the down low."

"She's out there loose? Are they nuts?" She took a breath momentarily caught off guard by fear. Totally unlike her. In the next second her mind was clear. "All right. Who else knows?"

"Just the inside team here. They haven't a clue where to look."

She understood his message. They don't know she is a lesbian and he doesn't want to tell them. "Right, we can't very well call out our own people. We're not even supposed to know about this." She walked through to her bedroom, gathering her gun and keys as she went. "There are a few places I can check. Listen Graham, there's a floating club, it travels around from once place to another all over the city. Very trendy, only people in the know have the address. Find it for me. I'll call you in an hour."

"How am I supposed to fi-"

She interrupted his protests. "I don't know how you'll do it but I'm sure you will."

Two hours later, Graham finally had the address of the floating club. By then Regina had been to every gay bar she knew of and several others Graham had come up with, and she was running out of ideas. It was almost midnight on New Year's Eve, and every bar was packed with excited men and women in various stages of intoxication and undress. She hadn't found her. For all she knew, Emma was tucked away in bed somewhere with a girlfriend they didn't know about. She hoped so.

When she convinced the bouncer to let her in to the exclusive party by offering a fifty in place of an invitation, it was worse inside than she expected. Loud music and wall to wall people, all of them scramble to find partners for the night. Smoke hung in clouds below murky spotlights. The air was heavy with sex and booze. She pushed her way into the shadowy depths of the room, hoping that each blond would be Emma.

From across the room, the president's daughter saw Regina walk in almost immediately. For the last half hour, Emma had been leaning against the wall just inside the hallway that led to the bathrooms, watching a young, tough number in tight black leather pants swagger about the bar, apparently trying to impress her friends. Emma thought she might be a fun to toy with. it was always so satisfying to humble the butches, and she made a bet with herself that she could make one beg inside of fifteen minutes. She was about to go over when she caught sight of Regina.

Taller by a head than most women, Regina Mills cut through the crowd. In a light windbreaker, dark polo shirt, and the signature faded jeans and boots, she should have looked ordinary, but she was seriously the sexiest woman in view. Graceful and certain, lithe and powerful, she was a hunter searching its prey. It was only the darkness in the hall that gave Emma the advantage as Regina moved closer, Emma's pulse quickened. This time the hunted would have the hunter.

Regina stepped through the archway into the hall just as the countdown to midnight began. People were crushing in around her, searching for that someone to claim at the dawn of a new year. Out of nowhere, Emma caught her by the arm and spun her against the wall, pressing hard along the length of her body.

Regina was momentarily stunned. She felt the softness of breasts against her chest, warm breath on her neck, a muscled thigh fitted tightly into her crotch. The assault of sensation was so unexpected she didn't have time to control it. Her breath caught as a stab of desire went down her spine and exploded between her thighs. Her clitoris swelled painfully, hard and ready in an instant. "Jesus, sto-"

"Happy New Year Commander," Emma breathed into her ear as she grasped Regina's head and pulled her down into a possessive kiss.

Regina moaned as Emma's tongue invaded her mouth adding fuel to the fire that raged through her. Regina kissed her back, she couldn't help it. For an instant, she forgot where she was or who she was. All she knew was the pounding in her head and the ache in her depths as she roared towards an orgasm. Unconsciously her hands came to Emma's breasts, Emma gasped and pushed a hand between Regina's legs.

"Oh Christ!" Regina groaned, pulling her mouth away so suddenly her head banged against the wall. Legs trembling, barely able to think, she jerked her hands away from Emma's body as if burned. Emma's fingers were massaging her, pushing her so close. She grabbed Emma's wrist and dragged the hand away from her body. "No God damn it! That's enough!"

"Are you crazy?" Emma exclaimed her voice thick with arousal. "You're so hot, so hard, I can feel you through your jeans. You're almost there, let me do what I know you want."

"It's not what I want." The simple truth was all Regina needed to find her control. She pushed Emma back a step, breaking their contact. "I want to get you out of here."

Emma's eyes were dangerously filled with rage at the knowledge that she had come close to humiliating herself. The fire in Regina's body had ignited her own, and she has been very close to coming herself. She throbbed still, the smallest touch will send her over. No one did that to her, not unless she wanted them to. "Go fuck yourself Agent Mills!"

As Emma tried to walk away Regina grasped her arm. "Ms. Swan please."

"Leave me alone." Roughly Emma shook off the restraining hold. "No one knows I'm here."

"I know."

"Then pretend you don't." Emma snapped trying to escape into the crowd. She couldn't move very quickly through the mass of people, and Regina stayed right behind her.

"I can't," Regina stated with finality. She risked touching her again and slid her fingers around Emma's forearm, slowing her down a little. "Please."

Emma turned around her body full of fury. "Then do your job but stay out of my way."

"Fine. All right." Regina accepted the slight compromise, she has no other choice. As much as she hated to do it, she let Emma move ahead of her. She wanted to call Graham for backup, but she was afraid if she took her eyes off Emma for a second she would lose her. The best she could do was stay close to her until she settled for the night and then send for another team.

Despite Emma's efforts to leave her behind, Regina was still close enough to hear when the president's daughter walked up to a young woman with spiked brown hair, a tattoo on the side of her neck, and leather pants so tight they exhibited that she was packed for action. By way of a greeting, Emma kissed her hard on the mouth and then announced, "I'm leaving. You coming with me?"

It took the stunned stranger a moment to find her voice but when she did, she grinned cockily and said, "Name the place."

"Follow me baby." Emma took her hand and dragged her toward the door.

Keeping a discreet distance, Regina followed them as they walked, arms wrapped around each other's waists. Every time Emma stopped to grope and fondle her leather clad conquest, Regina stepped into the shadows. Emma never looked in Regina's direction, but she had to know Regina was there, watching the show.

If the seduction was meant to anger Regina, it did, but probably not for the reasons Emma was going for. Regina was infuriated at the risk Emma was taking, picking up a stranger and then practically making love to her in the street a few blocks from the White House. It was dangerous on more levels than she could count. Emma Swan was beautiful, bright, and talented. She didn't need to waste herself on one-night stands. It was physically hazardous, politically suicidal, and willfully self-destructive.

When the young woman suddenly backed Emma against a wall and pushed both hands under her shirt, Regina came close to breaking up their little session. The sight of Emma pinned, nearly helpless, made her stomach clench. Swearing under her breath, Regina balled her hands at her sides and forcibly reminded herself that Emma Swan had every right to do what she was doing, and that any effort to intervene would only make things worse for next time. A second later, she heard Emma laugh and saw her push the woman away. A block further on, they disappeared into a hotel. Regina observed Emma book a room, then lead her new girlfriend to the elevators. As the door to the car closed, Emma fisted her hand in the woman's hair and kissed her.

Regina's blood was raging when she walked to the front desk and slapped her ID onto the counter. "Give me that room number."

"But-"

"Do it and I'm gone. Make me wait one goddamned second and I'll close this place down for the next six hours."

Two minutes later, at just after 1:00 a.m., she was on the phone in the lobby of the Camelot Hotel. Her call was answered immediately. "Graham?"

"Yeah, Commander. Tell me you got her please."

"Send two of our people, not the White House detail, to the Camelot Hotel on the parkway. I'll wait until they get here for the night. She is in Room 1674, and I think she will be there for the night. I need someone in the room across from hers, I booked it, and a car downstairs to intercept her when she leaves."

"Roger."

She rubbed her eyes, grateful that the hotel clerk hadn't paid much attention when Emma had signed in. Regina hadn't given him more than a glimpse of her ID, and she didn't think he recognized Emma. She shook herself realizing that her mind was wandering. "And Graham, keep this quiet, for God's sake. If the White House press catches on her little trip they will be all over us in the morning."

"Any info on who she's with?" Graham asked hesitantly.

"No," Regina said sharply. Except whoever she is, we'd better hope she doesn't figure out who just picked her up. She saw them again, Emma's mouth on the woman's neck, her hands traveling the length of her body. For just an instant, she felt Emma's breasts in her palms and remembered fingers between her thighs, tormenting her with just the perfect pressure-

"Commander you still there?"

"Yes," she retorted, her voice thick with memory.

"I'll have someone there in five minutes." Graham repeated.

"Good." Regina drew a ragged breath. "Tell them to step on it."

* * *

Regina was still raging with a dangerous combination of anger and arousal when she stepped off the elevator into the small foyer in front of her apartment. She stopped in surprise when she saw the blond seated on a bench in the alcove. Angelina put a book aside and smiled in her direction.

"My god!" Regina exclaimed. "I didn't mean for you to wait out in the hallway."

Her visitor stood, sliding the book into a leather bag. "I know but my evening was already planned and it's safe enough. I know I'm presuming and I can leave if you would like. But you did book the whole night."

"No, come in," Regina said as she unlocked the door. "I still owe you a drink."

Regina hit the dimmer switch inside the door, giving them just enough light to walk around. She turned to the woman who stepped inside after her. "I'm sorry-"

"Don't be," the blond said touching Regina's cheek briefly. When she lightly brushed a hand down Regina's chest, she heard the sharp intake of breath. She felt the tremor and the heat too. She knew the signs. In a throaty whisper she said, "You need some attention."

Without waiting for an answer, she pushed Regina gently back against the door and held her there with a palm against Regina's chest. With the other hand, she reached down to work loose the buttons on Regina's pants. The quick jerk of hips beneath her fingers was wordless agreement. Moving her hand from Regina's chest to rest her arm along the wall, she leaned close and reached into Regina's jeans.

"Oh God," Regina groaned, praying she could stay standing. She was so hard it hurt, had been since Emma had touched her in the bar, and the urgent need had never quieted. The first touch was excruciating. She grasped the door handle for support and closed her eyes.

The strokes were certain, commanding and relentless. Regina heard herself moaning. Back against the wall, body rigid with the effort to control the mounting pressure, her hips bucked forward into the waiting palm. When fingers slowly pressed the length of her, she gasped. "I'm losing it."

"It's all right." A gentle voice murmured.

Clenching her jaw until it hurt she tried to hold on. Another firm caress and she broke. She shouted hoarsely as the explosion rocketed through her, her head rolling from side to side with each pressure. When it finally subsided, she was amazed she was still upright.

"Oh Christ," she panted breathlessly. "I didn't mean for that to happen so fast."

"I don't think it was up to you," her companion laughed softly, moving away discreetly so Regina could regain her composure. Angelina knew that the arousal certainly had nothing to do with her, which she suspected was most often the case.

"Will you have that drink now?" Regina asked dryly as she fumbled with the button on her jeans. Her hands were trembling badly.

"I would definitely like that," Angelina said with a smile. Inclining her head toward the bathroom, she added, "I'll be right back."

Regina moved over to the bar on the still unsteady legs and poured them each a drink. A minute later they settled side by side on the sofa in front of the floor to ceiling windows. They sat in silence in the near darkness for a few moments before Regina asked, "Does it bother you? The lack of reciprocation?"

When her guest failed to answer she added quietly, "I'm sorry that was very inappropriate and none of my business."

"No, it's all right." Came the soft reply. "I don't expect any reciprocation and most of the time I wouldn't want it."

It was Regina's turn to be quiet. As many times, as they had met they had never talked of anything personal. She had never wanted to know anything about Angelina before. She never even wanted to know her name. She had no idea why she was asking now.

"This is a job and you should understand that it is my choice to do this. There is absolutely no force involved." Angelina added.

Regina believed her. Operations of this caliber were by referral only and Regina had gotten hers from a very high-ranking member of the Italian consulate. A diplomat she had known all her life had assured her that the service was safe and discreet, and that the escorts were extremely well paid. What Regina didn't know was who they were, or what they felt. Until their last meeting, both of them had kept their identities, and their secrets, hidden. It was a business arrangement with a disguise of civility, nothing more.

"So sometimes you would go both ways?" Regina asked.

"I certainly wouldn't throw you out of the bed," Angelina replied gently, her laughing making light of her statement. "If that would please you."

"I'm not asking for that," Regina struggled with the words. How to explain that she hadn't felt any desire to touch a woman for months, that the thought of wanting someone terrified her, that it was too much, too close. That when the memories and the guilt made it impossible for her to think or sleep, sex would give her a few hours of peace as long as she didn't feel anything except the rush of release. "I can't...I haven't-"

Angelina stopped her with a hand on Regina's thigh. "I don't need you to make love to me. If it makes you feel any better, I enjoy what we do. Rather a lot. Exactly as it is."

Regina nodded in acceptance, because she was too tired and too shaken by her loss of control, first in the bar and now here, to think clearly. Placing her drink beside her on the table she stood and held out her hand.

"I want you to stay here tonight." She said hoping eventually to sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning, Emma emerged from her room alone little before 7:00 a.m. She said nothing to the two Secret Service agents came out of the room across from hers and fell into step by her side. Once in the vehicle, Emma leaned back and closed her eyes. She'd heard the team leader call Regina and inform her of their ETA at the residence. Wonderful. I really want to see her right now.

Regina was waiting at the side entrance of the White House when the SUV pulled up. She watched Emma step out, looking hollow eyed and unusually strained. They had to hurry to get her past the press without announcing she had been out all night and up all-night screwing. Regina figured she didn't look all that better than Emma because she felt like hell. Neither of them acknowledged the other. Regina directed Emma in through the service entrance and down the maze of halls to the elevator to the family living quarters.

"I'll be outside with the cars. The plane leaves at 0830."

"Fine."

The ride to the airport less than thirty minutes later had been just as quiet.

Once aboard, Emma stalked down the aisle and threw herself across the seats at the rear. Regina took the first seat inside the cabin, leaned back, and closed her eyes. She hadn't gotten much sleep. None of them had. Between tracking Emma down, then shadowing the hotel the rest of the night, half the team had worked on the one night they all expected to have off. When the plane landed in New York forty minutes later, Regina escorted Emma to the waiting SUV and climbed into the back with her. In an hour, Emma was due to meet with the mayor to handle the New Year's Day Parade.

"Where to Ms. Swan?" Regina asked. Since Emma's disappearance the night before and her late arrival that morning, their entire schedule had been changed. Regina had no idea of Emma's plans and being at such a disadvantage pissed her off.

For once Emma appeared calm. "I need to go home and change."

Regina nodded, passed the message along to the driver and the car following them, and settled back against the seat. She clamped down on her anger. She wouldn't give Emma the satisfaction of knowing how unsettling the episode in the bar had been for her. The hours she had spent with Angelina had satisfied her body, but had not erased the memory of Emma's mouth on hers or the demanding promise of Emma's hands claiming her. It was not a memory Regina welcomed, and the faint bruises around Emma's lips only served to remind her that Emma had been up all night satisfying her needs with a stranger.

Christ Mills don't be a fool. Anyone will do, as long as she is in charge. You just happened to be handy.

* * *

When they pulled up in front of Emma's apartment, Regina sent Graham for coffee while she waited in the vehicle. She closed her eyes and thought of nothing. When the door opened again she looked up and then quickly averted her eyes as Emma Swan slid into the back seat and settled across from her. This woman looked nothing like the woman Regina had followed into the gay bar the night before. That woman had been wild, untamed and untamable. Emma was a predator, all the deadlier because she was irresistible. She was beautiful in the way of wild animals, and Regina had fallen prey to her power even as she tried to deny it.

This woman was elegant and refined and showed no resemblance to the creature she had been the night before, the one exception being that she was just unapproachable. The ferocious hunger in Emma's eyes had been replaced by an icy stillness. If there were thoughts behind the green eyes they no longer showed. Her tailored coat was open to expose a fitted suit, the jacket unbuttoned to reveal a silk camisole underneath. The skirt slid up as she crossed her legs. Regina found her every bit as attractive in this appearance as she had been the night before. Neither did she feel any safer all too aware of the pounding in her chest.

In defense, Regina forced herself to focus on the job at hand. This was one of the most dangerous kinds of appearances for Emma, since she would be exposed and highly visible in the midst of a large crowd. When they arrived at the central viewing area, where the mayor and Emma would be commenting on the passing parade, Regina was greeted by the mayor's chief of security, a serious looking redhead in his early forties.

"Captain Mark Goldman," the redhead announced enthusiastically, extending his hand while openly praising Regina.

Regina nodded in response as she returned the firm grip. "Regina Mills."

Looking past Mark, Regina surveyed the podium where Emma will be seated. She frowned slightly, noting that the rear of the elevated platform was open where the trucks and vans carrying sound and the other video equipment were parked. Anyone could approach from that direction, and she motioned for Graham to station several of their people behind the stand. Goldman noted the maneuver and quickly dispatch two of his own staff to join the Secret Service agents.

Emma watched in amusement as the two security chiefs secretly checked each other out, the way two dogs would while surveying a common territory. She was pretty sure Mark Goldman had some kind of crush on Mills from the way he looked at her, Emma was even more convinced. For a brief instant, she felt a flare of jealously. There was no doubt that Mills was one of the most beautiful woman she had ever seen and she didn't doubt that there were plenty of women, and men for that matter, looking for her attention. The fact that it bothered her even for a second irritated her. Emma turned her back to their activities, focusing on the mayor and his entourage. She certainly had no intention of allowing Regina Mills to occupy anymore of her thoughts than necessary.

While she offered casual responses to mayor's small talk, Emma tried not to think about the previous night, or the fact that each time she had brought a cry from her willing conquest, she had wished it was Regina responding to her caresses. She had been aware that the body squirming beneath her was not the woman she had been holding for an instant in the bar. Nor could she forget what touching Regina did to her.

The desire that radiated from Regina's body then had been breathtaking. The lightning response had excited Emma so much that the lingering effects had carried her to a climax as she made love to the young stranger. She never undressed, never let herself be touched, but she would come anyway thinking of Regina. Even now she couldn't put it from her mind. Regina's steady breath, the lift of her hips in Emma's hands, all of it had ignited Emma's passion in a way that no one had been able to do in a long time, as long as she could remember. Even thinking of it now stirred her once again. Jesus let it go. She won't give in. She's all about the rules and regulations.

"Are you ready Ms. Swan?" The mayor's aid asked politely, receiving an automatic smile from Emma.

"Yes of course."

Fortunately, she could do this kind of event without a conscious thought. She had been in the spotlight since she was a young adult. She smiled at the right times, she made the right complimentary remarks about the performers, and she was altogether gracious and charming. The camera loved her which made everything easier. In any lighting, she looked flawless and all around stunning. Because of her personality and her appearance, she was frequently asked to attend at media events. She did it because she had to and she cared about her father's image.

Nevertheless, each appearance took its toll. She was aware of the men staring at her with very badly disguised looks of lust. She would not have tolerated it under any other circumstance. Had it happened on the street where she is not immediately recognizable she would have made it very clear she was not interested. She was tired of being an unwilling player in the charade. That's why she lived her life at night, she shed her public persona and grasped what little she had of her own life.

For some weird reason that afternoon she was actually aware of Regina Mills standing just behind her out of the camera shot. The knowledge that Regina knew the truth about her made the event more tolerable, her presence reminded Emma who she really was. When the event was over she thanked everyone, and turned tiredly away. Regina was instantly by her side.

"Ready to go?" Her tone was gentle. Emma's exhaustion was clear.

"God yes."

Emma didn't relax until they were in the SUV again on their way back to her apartment. Regina sat across from her in silence. However, it was not the awkward silence of the earlier ride from the airport, but rather a comfortable regathering of energy after the stressful afternoon. Emma had to admit that she felt safe. Despite all the years of this kind of experiences she had never quite gotten over the feeling of being vulnerable. There was something about Regina's presence that allowed her to forget for a moment that millions of eyes were on her. It wasn't that the dozens of others before Mills hadn't taken the job seriously but Emma had always known it was the job and not her they were working for. What made Regina so fascinating, and at the same time annoying, was that when she focused on you you knew you had been seen.

"Thank you for handling that so well." Emma said.

"You're welcome."

"Come up stairs Commander," Emma said as the vehicle came to a stop in front of the building. "We can go over the schedule for the rest of the week."

Regina quickly hid her surprise at the unusual invitation. "Certainly."

When the rear doors opened, Regina stepped out first. She glanced quickly up and down the street, confident that the area was secure, and extended her hand to Emma. It was an automatic gesture and she did it without thought.

Emma hesitated for just a second and then took the offered hand. The grip was firm and cool. She ignored the tingling in her fingers. "Thank you."

The other members of the team escorted them to the private elevator that went only to Emma's penthouse apartment, then left to take the second elevator to the control room just below it. As the elevator doors opened on the top floor, Regina exited and out of habit visually swept the hallway. In one swift movement, her gun was drawn. She quickly turned towards Emma, who had stepped up next to her, and grasped her around the waist. She pushed Emma back into the elevator shielding her from the foyer with her own body.

"Stay behind me," she ordered as she slapped the lobby button. "Graham," she said urgently into her microphone. "Seal the building. No one goes in or out. Have team one meet us at the elevator. We have a code red."

"What's going on?" Emma demanded anxiously.

"We're evacuating," Regina held up one hand to silence her, still speaking to her second in command. "There's a package outside Cobra's apartment door. Call the bomb squad."

The elevator door slid open and four other agents quickly surrounded them. Regina led the way, walking directly in front of Emma to block her body from any possible sightline. The group hustled the startled woman across the lobby, through the double glass doors and into a waiting vehicle. Within seconds the SUV was speeding through New Year's traffic.

"Clear the civilians from the building," Regina said as she listened on her radio to what was happening in the command room. "Keep them all together for questioning. I want a list of every person who was in the building within the last week. I'll advise you when we reach the safe house."

"What?" Emma demanded. "Where are we going?"

"Temporary quarters." Regina responded.

"For how long?"

"Until I can assess the degree of threat."

The safe house turned out to be a large suite in the top floor of one of the most exclusive hotels uptown. As soon as they entered Regina was in communication with Graham once again. Meanwhile Emma was left to pace in silence in the sitting room. The instant Regina ended the call Emma confronted her.

"Do you mind telling me what the hell is going on?"

"Someone left you a present. Until we find out what and who you are not allowed to go back, you are not safe at home."

"And I suppose you think I am going to stay here?" Emma asked quizzical.

"I don't have time to argue with you. Your safety, not your comfort, is what is important. Once I have some idea of what was in the box and how someone could get that close to leave it at your door without our surveillance getting it. I can give you some idea of when you can return. The entire security system needs to be redone, and your apartment needs to be checked for anything."

"What about my work?" Emma asked intently. She couldn't quite keep the tremor from her voice. "All of my work is in my loft. It's protected from fire but not from a horde of careless Secret Service agents tramping through my apartment."

Regina recalled the stacks of canvases and works in progress that filled over half of Emma's loft space. The artwork was irreplaceable and quite possibly priceless. What she saw in Emma's eyes was not concern for the material loss but for the loss of her creations. For an artist to lose her work was the same thing of anyone losing a body part.

"I understand," Regina said immediately. "I'll talk to Graham and make sure everyone is aware of what's in your apartment. We have to look at everything. There could be almost anything hidden basically anywhere. If someone was able to penetrate our security to leave a package outside your door we have to assume they had access to the interior of your apartment as well. I'm sorry. It's the best I can do."

Emma searched Regina's eyes and found sincerity as well as empathy in the depths of her dark brown eyes. "Thank you." She whispered softly.

"As soon as we have things under control I'll have someone bring your clothes. Is there anything else you want?"

"A different face?" Emma grimaced. "Can you have someone bring me one day of peace?"

"How about a six pack of beer and pizza?"

Emma laughed in spite of herself. "If that's the best you can do Commander. You are one lousy date. However, considering the limited resources at hand I'll take it."

* * *

As it turned out, it was six hours before Regina was satisfied that there was no immediate danger at the apartment. The package wrapped in plain brown paper had been left by Emma's door and did not contain a bomb. The dogs sent in to investigate were completely uninterested, and there wasn't anything to excite them in Emma's apartment either. Agents had searched the loft and found no evidence of tampering.

Graham was on his way over with the package and supplies for a few days stay. Regina estimated it would take that long to change all the locks in the building, recheck the security clearances on the cleaning crews, maintenance, and the occupants of the other apartments, and review all the visitors of the building in the last week. She hadn't told Emma of the timetable yet and wasn't looking forward to doing it. Until they had a better idea of what exactly happened she couldn't let Emma leave the safe house.

Regina intended to stay on site personally for at least the next several days. Graham was already arranging around the clock coverage at the safe house. The suite had two bedrooms, a large sitting area, a bar, and a wide screen TV. They would be cramped but they will all have to manage.

A knock at the door brought her to attention. She crossed the room quickly, reaching into her jacket to release the snap on her shoulder holster as she moved. She relaxed as Graham announced his arrival.

"What have you got for me?" She asked immediately.

Graham lifted a shoebox size package in his hands. "I've got this, bomb boys and evidence techs are done with it."

"Excellent." She indicated that he join her at the table in the sitting area. Emma appeared at the door of the master bedroom just as Regina was reaching for the package. Their eyes met and Regina read the question that Emma couldn't bring herself to ask.

"Join us, Ms. Swan, please." Regina said quietly. At Graham's quick expression of surprise, she just regarded him steadily. She didn't need to give an explanation. It was her call to make.

Once Emma took the seat on Regina's right at the small table, Regina carefully examined the exterior of the package. The only thing on it was Emma's name in black Sharpie. No postal stamp or any other identity markers. The wrapping appeared to be normal packing paper sealed with Scotch tape. Carefully, Regina lifted the tape and removed the paper to reveal a cardboard box. A little bit of fingerprint powder stuck to everything inside and out. She unfolded the flaps and removed a single sheet of paper. She looked at it for a second then placed it on the table for Emma and Graham to see. A muscle in her jaw tightened as she read the hand-written words.

You are so beautiful. Why do you waste yourself on those who are unworthy? I know how rare and precious you are. I can forgive your sins. I am watching. I am waiting for your sign.

"Oh my God." Emma breathed. She suddenly felt cold as if a strange hand had run over her naked skin. Unconsciously, she leaned closer to Regina.

"Have Suarez return this to the lab for a handwriting analysis and get me a readout on the paper." Regina instructed, her voice hard and cold. You son of a bitch. You will never get this close to her again.

"Got it." Graham replied quietly.

"I want twenty-four-hour real-time photo surveillance of the street in front of the apartment building. Assign our best tech person to it. I want to see any repeaters, any loiterers, and anyone who seems the slightest bit out of place." Regina kept her hand flat on the table, she had the overwhelming desire to punch something. Just hours ago, Emma had been exposed to the view of thousands. The night before she'd been wandering the streets of D.C. with a stranger. From all reports, she'd been vulnerable for weeks. And we've been sitting around doing nothing to protect her. Well that is over now.

"It's a stalker, isn't it?" Emma questioned, hoping there was a different answer.

"I'm afraid so." Regina responded. This was the worst possible news. Stalkers were unpredictable and difficult to identify and frequently did not have some police record. Everywhere Emma Swan went she would be in potential danger. Regina's job had just gotten a lot harder, and considering the difficulties they already had the work ahead looked challenging and exhausting.

"When can I go home?" Emma asked quietly.

"It will be at least a week." Regina replied honestly.

"Are you kidding me?!"

Regina laughed. "I really wish I was."

"Should I get the chief of staff on the line Commander?" Graham questioned.

"I'm getting to it." Regina sighed. "I just wanted to go over the tapes from the video cameras, first. Have you got them?"

"Please don't bring in Blanchard." Emma said urgently.

"I have to. You know that." Regina responded.

"Can't you wait? If you inform the White House this will be all over the news tomorrow. I'll never have another moment's peace."

Regina looked at her across the table. There was something close to pleading in her eyes.

"Can you give us a minute here." Regina said to Graham.

Graham looked like he wanted to protest but gave up and went out in the hall.

Regina leaned toward Emma and said gently, "This is serious. I can't keep something like this form my superiors."

"Don't tell me you are worried about getting in trouble." Emma laughed in disbelief.

"That's not the issue. If this escalates and gets worse, I may need more help. I'm not willing to jeopardize your safety to protect your privacy."

"We are not talking about my privacy." Emma's voice rose, and she made an effort to control it. "We are talking about my private life and that's what I don't want on the news."

"Is it really the news you are worried about?"

"Perhaps it isn't. But in the end, it is all the same." Emma briefly touched Regina's hand, surprising them both. "There's not much difference between stalked by a creepy admirer or by a swarm of reporters. Either way I am a victim."

Regina shook her head, ignoring the surge of empathy. Ignoring too, the lingering heat of Emma's fingers on her skin. "Even if I thought it was possible, I wouldn't do it. You haven't exactly made it easy for us to protect you. I simply can't trust you."

"And if you could? If I promised to follow the letter of the law? Would that buy me some time? You might have this all cleared up in a few days."

By sheer luck maybe. Regina walked to the windows overlooking Central Park. The decision should have been simple. Protocol demanded that at the first sight of any threat she intensify the security measures around the subject. Not notifying her superiors would certainly place her own position in jeopardy. On the other hand, this was the first time she even had the slightest cooperation from Emma Swan. She would need that cooperation if she was to have any chance at all of containing the situation. That made tactical sense, and, at least for the moment she had plenty of manpower to stay within the margin of safety. From twenty stories up she watched the horses and buggies winding their way through the lamp lit streets of the park. Across the room Emma remained silent but Regina could feel her gaze on her back. More than that she could remember the look in her eyes. Emma had been vulnerable, and, more than that, afraid. Regina tried to pretend that didn't affect her decision.

"I'll keep it quiet for now assuming there are no other threats." Regina turned from the windows her hands deep in her pockets. "As long as you cooperate with me."

"You've got a deal." Emma relaxed a great amount.

"At the next sign of contact I will have to advise the chief of staff. That is the best I can do."

"Thank you."

Watching Emma intently, Regina leaned one shoulder against the wall. She'd been up all night the previous evening chasing Emma and then chasing away Emma's ghost with sex. It was almost midnight. She was exhausted and she still had hours of work to do. "You have any idea who might be doing this?"

"Why should I?" Emma responded surprised and defensive.

"This might not have been the first attempt at contact." Regina said gently. A quick flash of horror on Emma's face made her stomach clench. "Anyone strike you as behaving unusually?"

"No."

"Someone who tried to approach you at the gym or the gallery? Maybe in a bar?"

"No, no one."

"Someone you spent the night with?"

"You saw for yourself." Emma said steadily, her eyes fixed on Regina's face. "The women I go home with have no idea who I am. If they know anything at all they know me by Jennifer."

"Your middle name." Regina observed. "And what about their names? Can you give me any kind of list? Any address?"

"Not unless you think the names 'baby', 'honey', and 'sweetheart', will do you any good." Emma responded sarcastically.

"What about someone you have seen more regularly?"

"There hasn't been anyone." Emma said flatly.

Regina ran a hand through her hair and sighed involuntarily. She had hoped there might be a lead among Emma's sexual encounters. If the stalker was indeed completely anonymous to Emma in any way it would only be through chance that they catch them.

"All right then." Regina said. "When Graham gets back, I'll need you to look at the security tapes with us. Perhaps you will recognize someone going in or out of the building."

"Fine." She felt like she had been up for forty-eight hours and looking at Regina it was clear she was exhausted too. The agent's usually pristine suit was wrinkled, and she had dark circles under her eyes. Emma had a sudden urge to brush the tousled hair back from her forehead. She had an even more disturbing desire to slip the suit jacket off Regina and guide her to the couch. The next moment she saw herself unbuttoning Regina's shirt. She stood suddenly forcing the images from her mind.

"I'm going to take a nap if you're going to have me stay up the rest of the night." She said harshly.

Regina glanced at Emma's stiff back as she crossed the room and slammed the bedroom door behind her. Then she slumped down on the couch tiredly, allowing herself a few minutes of rest before the long night began. The next thing she knew there was knock at the door and movement in the room. She opened her eyes in time to see Emma reach for the door.

"Emma!" Regina was across the room before Emma could turn the knob. Grasping her forearm Regina said sharply, "Let me do that."

"What?" Emma asking in surprise. The security chief had her gun drawn and the look on her face was intent. For the first time Emma truly appreciated the severity of the situation. She also understood that Regina Mills was completely serious on protecting her. It was clear the woman would put herself in danger to protect those around her. Emma felt sick thinking out Regina getting hurt trying to protect her. Emma hesitated for a moment keeping her hand on the door knob.

"Step behind me, please," Regina ordered steadily as she gently drew Emma's hand away. Putting herself between Emma and the door, her gun now shoulder length, she said, "Who's there?"

"Lucas and Graham." Graham replied.

Regina opened the door to the length until the security chain caught it and looked out into the hallway. Graham and the young female agent stood in the doorway. She lowered her gun and opened the door to let them in. As they passed by, she checked the hallway one more time, then holstered her weapon and secured the door.

"Have you got the tapes?"

"The tapes and dinner." Graham responded unpacking several bags. He looked at his boss knowing she must be tired and hungry. The president's daughter was watching the commander too. He couldn't quite describe the look on her face but it seemed to be a mixture of fascination and uncertainty. There was something else there as well, something that reminded him of how men looked at women. It was the first time he had seen anything so obviously sexual between the women. He wondered for a moment if the commander was aware of it or even if Emma was.

"Right," Regina said briskly. "Everybody grab whatever you want to eat and let's start looking at these tapes. Ms. Swan, I'm afraid I am going to have to ask you to sit through this with us. It will be long and boring but you might be able to recognize someone."

"Of course," Emma said in a strangely subdued voice. "Didn't someone promise me a beer?"

Regina looked at Graham with a raised eyebrow. "Graham?"

"Coming up," he said as he reached for the phone to call room service.

Three hours later the pizza boxes were empty, a six pack of beer was gone, and daybreak was not far away. They had watched tapes from the previous two days and found nothing out of the ordinary. It was unlikely that anything would turn up in the tapes from earlier in the week but they reviewed them anyways. Beginning with the morning shift, agents would begin to interview all the employees that worked in the building as well as anyone who was known to make a delivery.

"Let's take a break everyone." Regina said with a sigh. "Graham, Lucas, brief the others on what we need from the interviews. I'll stay her with Ms. Swan. Let's plan to update on anything at noon."

When the two agents left Regina turned to Emma. "You should get some sleep. This afternoon I want to go over anything you can remember from the last few weeks that might have been out of the ordinary."

"Right." Emma stopped at the door to the master suite, turning to look at Regina. Quietly she said, "You should get some rest too."

"My thoughts exactly." Regina smiled slightly and gave Emma an oddly gentle look. "I know this is hard for you. Just bear with me for a few days and hopefully we can get back to normal."

"Normal?" Emma said with a little bit of sadness. "Commander I wouldn't recognize normal if it hit me in the face."

Regina stared thoughtfully after her door closed between them. She could feel Emma's loneliness left in the air and it felt surprising like her own. She pushed the thought away and stretched out on the couch finally giving into her fatigue.

When she awoke, momentarily disoriented, she found a light cover her been placed over her. The curtains were drawn and the room was in near darkness. There was a sound of quiet breathing in the still room. After a moment, she could see the shape of someone sitting nearby.

"Couldn't sleep?" Regina said into darkness.

"No, I always have a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep anywhere other than my own bed." A hint of sarcastic laughter followed. "That's probably why I never spent the night with someone."

"Leave the door open and try again." Regina suggested. "Sometimes just the sound of someone breathing is all that we need to hear."

Emma was stunned. She hadn't meant to say anything and the gentle response caught her off guard. She couldn't remember the last time she allowed anyone this close. It frightened her and she automatically went back to her long-practiced defense. "I think it might be better if you joined me in the bedroom. I can guarantee you at least one of us would get sleep, eventually."

Regina shifted to a sitting position and spread her arms out along the back of the sofa. She could barely see Emma's face in the shadows. "I'm unavailable."

The words came quietly and in a tone, that might have suggested regret. Nevertheless, the put down stung. Emma knew that in her heart her offer had been serious. She had wanted to fall asleep with Regina by her side.

"You certainly seemed available last night."

"That was just biology." Regina said calmly.

"Biology." Emma snorted. "Is that what we're calling it now? You were hot and you were ready. Deny it if that makes you feel better but I know what I felt."

"I'm not denying anything. What I am saying is that nothing can happen between us."

"Relax Commander. I'm not asking for a lifetime commitment." Emma eased herself out of the chair and approached the sofa. She leaned down placing her arms on either side of Regina's body. Their faces were only inches apart. "Why pretend you don't want it?"

Regina remained motionless. The air around her was charged with sex. Heat radiated from Emma's body and the faint scent of excitement caused her own blood to surge. She was quite sure that Emma could tell she was aroused. She couldn't alter the pounding of her heart or the quickening of her breath. "What will it take to convince you?"

"Tell me you don't want me to touch you." Emma whispered as she leaned even closer. "I can assure you I am just accomplished as any professional you might find to take care of your needs."

"Ms. Swan I do not want to have sex with you." Regina said in an even voice. She was surprised at the accuracy of Emma's information gathering. She was far from embarrassed however. There was very little difference between the casual sex that Emma enjoyed and what she herself wanted in privacy. "All I need from you is your cooperation."

Emma heard the finality in her voice. She had been rejected before but never by anyone she wanted quite so much. What angered her the most was that she could sense how much Regina desired her. Regina Mills represented everything she could not have in her own life, independence, self-determination, and freedom. Knowing this fueled her urge to strip the self-contained agent of her restraint. For just those moments at the peak of release she'd wanted to hold Regina's will in her hands. At least that's how it had started.

Now there was something else, something much more dangerous. Now she wanted the comfort of Regina's presence in the dark. Slowly she straightened. "If you keep me cooped up in this place for very long I won't be responsible for my actions."

"I promise to make this short and painless as possible." Regina recognized the admission in her voice and laughed softly. "I'm sure you can be trusted no matter how long it takes."

Don't be so sure Commander. If I have to be this close to you twenty-four hours a day I'm not sure I can trust myself.


	8. Chapter 8

Emma winced as Ruby Lucas laid yet another royal flush. If she has to sit through one more game and lose to her again she will lose it.

Her patience was gone. She has not been out of the apartment in three days. They had just finished a dinner of Chinese takeout and Regina left Emma with Ruby, Graham, and Joy Carter while she went to Emma's apartment building for a briefing with the other agents. Emma was very aware of her absence. The air seemed electric when Regina was around. She looked toward the door with relief when she heard a knock.

"How are your poker skills, Commander?" She asked as Regina crossed the room to join them.

Regina raised a questioning eyebrow. "Are you playing for money?"

Emma laughed. "If we were, I'm afraid I would be in big trouble."

"In that case, I'll play."

Ruby Lucas pushed back from the table. "Please take my place. I'm due back at the command center."

Regina sat across from Emma. Each time Regina bid she had a feeling Emma knew what she was going to do. It was both unsettling and exhilarating. Eventually it got to the point where Regina was the one always winning so they all decided to call it a quits.

"I might have known you would be a good poker player, Commander." Emma said softly. "I'm sure you are just as good at a lot of things."

Her tone was intimate and the suggestiveness did not escape Graham's notice. His boss seemed unaffected as she stood and stretched. She has shed her jacket and the straps of her shoulder holster stretched her shirt over her torso. Graham didn't miss the way Emma's eyes flickered over Regina's body. Christ, I'm surprised the commander doesn't go up in flames.

If Regina had heard Emma's remark, or felt her appraising glances, she didn't show it. She made no reply as she turned to her agents. "Why don't you two take a break for a few hours. Have one of the night crew come by around midnight. I'll be fine until then."

After the men left Regina settled into a chair in the suite's large sitting area with the day's reports. Emma sat opposite her on the couch with a sketchpad. The room lights were low and Regina's face was partially in the shadows.

"Do you mind?" Emma asked as she began to draw.

Regina glanced over, smiled faintly, and went back to her reading. "No."

"Most people do," Emma said without looking up. She was sketching the fine straight nose, the deep dark eyes and the chiseled cheekbones and jaw from memory. It was a face that caught her attention the first time she'd seen it and it never failed to entice her. It was a face meant to be drawn. Unfortunately, the more she saw her the more exciting she found her. Regina was everything Emma found attractive in a woman and the effect Regina had on her was unsettling. Their close proximity the last few days hadn't helped.

Emma found herself listening for Regina's voice when she awoke in the morning and looking for her whenever she entered a room. She found Regina's presence both disturbing and strangely reassuring and she'd tried to discount her feelings by reminding herself that it was only natural to find a good-looking woman appealing. She simply chose to ignore her racing pulse and unmistakable arousal whenever Regina was near.

"I'm actually used to it." Regina remarked absently.

"Really?" Emma looked up at that.

"My mother is an artist."

Emma regarded her seriously. "Would I know her?"

"You might." Regina said softly putting her papers aside. "Her name is Cora Drax."

"You wouldn't be joking, would you?"

Regina shook her head.

"Well." Emma was momentarily at a loss. "I suppose I should be embarrassed to even let you see my work. She is quite wonderful."

"Yes, she is." Regina thought of the canvases in Emma's loft. "From the little I have seen of your work so are you. Of course, I'm not critic. I only know what I've seen of my mother's work and that of her friends."

"Then you have been exposed to the best." Emma said lightly. "Did you grow up in Italy?"

"Yes, until I was twelve." A shadow flickered across Regina's face then was gone. "After that I was schooled in the United States."

Emma spoke aloud without thinking. "I remember hearing something about her husband-"

"My father was the American ambassador to Italy." Regina responded evenly. "He was killed in a terrorist car bombing attack when I was eleven."

"Oh God I'm so sorry. I had forgotten." Emma regarded Regina with true anguish in her face. She'd been almost the same age when her own mother died. After that she'd been terrified that something would happen to her father. Growing up surrounded by armed guards hadn't made her feel any safer. Stubbornly she never gave any thought to her own safety. To do so would have forced her to accept that the constraining security measures taken to protect her were actually necessary. "It must have been horrible for you."

"It was much harder for my mother." Regina looked into the distance remembering. "They were completely devoted to each other and his death nearly destroyed her. If it hadn't been for her work I don't think she would have survived."

"And she never remarried?" Emma questioned softly. She thought of her own father who has been alone for so many years. She had always thought it was ambition that kept him from needing anyone including her. Just another reason she hated being the president's daughter.

"No." Regina replied her voice serious. "I don't think anyone else would have compared."

"Are you like her?" Emma asked boldly. She couldn't help wondering about the death of the detective rumored to be Regina's lover. Perhaps the commander loved her still and that was the reason she seemed immune to Emma's attentions. For an instant Emma was jealous but then scolded herself for her foolishness.

"No, I am not like her at all." Again, that fleeting smile. "My mother is an artist."

"Meaning?"

"She is a mysterious combination of deep passion. Volatile sensitivities, and uncommon vision."

"Is that how you see artists?" Emma was fascinated and suddenly the answer mattered very much.

"Yes. I find them to be persons of rare fragility and unsurpassed emotional complexity." Regina focused on Emma's face thinking not of her mother but of Emma's unyielding spirit. "Hell to live with but worth every moment of the knowing."

Emma felt Regina's words to her core. The intensity in her expression and the deep feeling in her voice threatened to rock the foundation on Emma's world. She had never wanted to anything more than she wanted Regina Mills to feel that way about her. It was impossible and the last thing she wanted to feel. This need would make her weak. The longing would endanger what little independence she still had. Torn between the urge to flee and the physical painful attraction that was so much more than sexual she tore her eyes away from Regina's fascinating face.

"I can't draw you when you are talking." She said thickly as she focused on her charcoal and paper.

Regina watched Emma's delicate hand stroke the textured surface thinking how beautiful and gifted she was. And what an emotional minefield. One moment she was heat and anger the next an ember radiating sex. Then just as suddenly like now withdrawn and somehow fragile. Her legs were curled under her and she bent her upper body protectively over her work. Her blond hair fell free in loose curls around her face making her seem very young. She looked innocent and terrifying vulnerable. Regina thought of the package left outside Emma's door and her mind rebelled from the image of anyone harming her.

But then she reminded herself it was her responsibility to see that nothing and no one did. Regina returned to her reading absolutely certain that her sudden urge to run her hands through those curls was simply in response to their conversation and had nothing to do with the fascinating beauty of the woman herself.

* * *

At 7:00 the next morning, Regina walked out of the second bedroom after finishing a shower. Across the room, Emma and Ruby Lucas were so engrossed in conversation they didn't even notice her. She couldn't hear them from where she was standing but Emma had one hand on Ruby's forearm and was peering intently into her face. It looked as if Ruby was trying to back up, but Emma had effectively maneuvered her against the mini bar. Regina had witnessed this particular seduction before. She wasn't sure what made her angrier, Emma's obvious attention to the woman or the fact that her agent seemed to find the president's daughter fascinating. Any kind of romantic involvement between agent and the individuals they were guarding was strictly forbidden. It wasn't just policy, it made tactical sense. You couldn't be smart in dangerous situations if you were personally and intimately involved with the subject.

Ruby slipped past Emma to answer a knock at the door. Regina automatically stepped between Emma and the door, shielding her until she was certain it was Carter. They had been there four days, and it was time for her to make a decision.

"We need to talk." She said to Emma.

Emma regarded her suspiciously, realizing Regina must have seen her with Ruby. She hadn't really given much thought to the good looking, dark haired agent previously, although she had been aware of Ruby shadowing her in the bars over the last few months. Ruby was attractive, in a wholesome kind of way, well built, clear eyed, and purposeful. Emma had never really been interested in her sexually, probably because she guessed Ruby wasn't a lesbian. She had learned at a very young age not to fool around with straight women. However, after having been cooped up in a three-room suite for four days with Regina Mills, a woman who seemed to turn her on without effort and reject her with similar ease, Emma found herself trying to seduce the younger agent out of boredom.

"It seems that one of the building cleaning employees delivered the package to your door." Regina reported. "An unidentified boy apparently gave her ten dollars to do it. In all probability, the stalker used the boy as a messenger so he couldn't be described. We don't have either of them on video, and there's no way we're going to ID the boy."

"So, it's a dead end?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"Then can I go home?" Emma asked, finding that she had mixed feelings about that. She was sick to death of being confined with people constantly around her, and she missed the freedom to work. On the other hand, Regina had rarely left the hotel in the four days they had been here. When Regina needed to sleep, she had several of the other agents stand guard. Emma had gotten used to her presence. The security chief was there when Emma woke up, and when she went to bed. In the many hours between, they had talked together, read together, and shared silences together. It was the most intimate time she had spent with anyone since her days in school.

"I'd rather you didn't go back to the apartment immediately." Regina replied. "I think it would be best if you took some time away. That would give is a chance to finish our interviews with neighbors and delivery people we missed in the first sweep. A trip out of town might be a good idea."

"Ashley and I had discussed going skiing." Emma considered. "Now might be the perfect time. I'll call her and arrange something for next weekend."

Regina nodded in agreement. "That would work. The weekend might be a little too soon, since I'll need to inform the resort and work out the shift details."

"You can do that on the plane." Emma said with a hint of irritation. She wasn't used to altering her plans or delaying to accommodate her security teams.

"May I remind you that we have an agreement." Regina commented quietly.

"I think I agreed not to give your agents the slip." Emma responded knowingly.

"Actually, I believe you agreed to give us your cooperation, as well as not giving us the slip." Regina countered.

"Next time it will have to be in writing." Emma muttered. Catching that quick smile that flashed across Regina's handsome features, she laughed in spite of herself. "How about if we work out the details tonight over dinner?"

"Okay." Regina knew she had been outmaneuvered, but accepted the token of cooperation. She started to turn away, then added. "This is the first field assignment of this caliber for several of my people. It wouldn't look good for them if I had to reassign them."

"And why might you need to do that?" Emma asked suspiciously.

"If one of them were to compromise their objectivity, say, through a friendship with you just for example."

"Friendship? Or sex?"

"Either."

"Aren't you worried about yourself then?" Emma asked angrily, resenting the implied restrictions. She might have promised cooperation but she didn't pledge celibacy. "As I recall, we've already been friendly."

"I'm not a rookie Ms. Swan." Regina answered smoothly as she turned away. "I can resist temptation."

Emma stared after her. If she wanted to bed Ruby Lucas in the middle of the hotel lobby, she damn well would. Regina Mills might have control over her time, but she would never have control over anything that really mattered to her.

* * *

Emma spent the rest of the day getting settled back into her apartment, and she didn't see Regina again. She hadn't forgotten, however, that they had dinner plans. She dressed carefully, ignoring the quick thud of her pulse when her doorbell rang at 6:30 p.m.

"Let's walk." Emma said by way of greeting. As usual. Her security chief looked enormously attractive in a black blazer, plain red shirt, and pressed stone washed jeans. Emma tried not to pay an attention to the faint hint of cologne that registered pleasantly in the air and other places.

"Okay."

Emma draped her wool overcoat on her arm and eyed Regina. "Need a jacket?"

"I'll be fine." Regina replied. "Warm blooded."

"I'll bet."

Regina laughed, nothing, as they crossed to the elevator, the way Emma's dress enhanced her slim form. Her hair was down too, giving her the slightly casual look that was so damn sexy. Remember what you warned her about friendship. Jesus.

Emma moved gracefully, with easy confidence, and Regina knew it was because she was going out not as the president's daughter but as an ordinary adult going to dinner. For an instant, Regina regretted her job. She wished she could view the evening ahead as a date with a beautiful woman. But she couldn't. Even though Emma could forget, or try to forget, who she was, ignoring the very real threats that existed in her life by pursuing a never-ending series of sexual conquests to prover her independence, Regina couldn't forget. No matter what face Emma chose to show the outside world, Regina knew her to be the talented and complicated woman she was sworn to protect. And that's all she could do.

Nevertheless, when Emma turned to her in the elevator and favored her with a smile, Regina smiled back. And despite her reservations and responsibilities, she found herself looking forward to dinner with a sense of anticipation that she hadn't known in years.

As the elevator came to a halt and the doors began to slide open, Emma placed her hand on Regina's forearm. With an undertone of urgency in her voice she said, "I don't want the rest of the team to come with us."

"Ms. Swan I-"

"Please. I've been watched constantly for days with near strangers supervising every moment." Emma's eyes met Regina's. "I just want a few hours alone to have dinner with you."

"I know how hard it's been." Regina responded quietly. "But I can't let you go unprotected. Not now, especially so soon after that package was delivered. I'll tell them to stay out of sight."

"It's not the same."

"I know it isn't. Believe me Emma, if I could change it I would."

Perhaps it was the way Regina said her name, her first name. None of the Secret Service ever used it. Perhaps it was the sincerity in her voice. It was enough. Emma brushed her fingers along Regina's sleeve, touching the back of Regina's hand with her fingertips for just a moment. "Thank you."

Regina whispered a few words into her microphone as she stepped out of the elevator to take Emma's arm. She wasn't entirely certain this was a good idea, but she had a feeling if she didn't allow Emma this small bit of independence, she would lose whatever chance she had of Emma's cooperation. In truth, she didn't have the heart to keep her constrained any longer. It wasn't just the last four days, it was the last thirteen years.

As they walked out into the chill early evening air, Regina realized how much she wanted to give Emma these few moments of happiness. She caught her breath in surprise when Emma slipped her fingers into her hand, all too aware that at least three of her agents were watching.

"You like to live dangerously, Ms. Swan."

"I didn't think you were afraid of rumors, Commander." Emma said tauntingly.

"It's not the rumors I'm afraid of." Regina said dryly. "It's your father."

The agents threading their way through the crowd ten feet behind looked at each other curiously, wondering what had prompted the unrestrained laughter from Emma Swan.

* * *

"Okay. I think I can manage it." Regina said as she leaned back in her chair. She sipped her espresso, comfortably relaxed after a slow, quiet dinner in a small restaurant off Fourth Street in the West Village. They shared a table for two in front of a large, open wood burning fireplace. Emma had initially requested a table in the wide front window, but Regina had politely declined, requesting seating where Emma wasn't quite so exposed.

"I'm glad you agree." Emma said with a hint of laughter. For once, it didn't bother her that she had to clear her plans with her security chief. Even she had to admit that Regina wasn't being unreasonable.

"It will still take a day or two to get everything into place." Regina warned.

"I'll practice patience." Emma sipped her wine and studied her dinner companion. For two hours they had talked of art, which cities they enjoyed most in Europe, and the comparative value of various martial art forms. What they had not discussed was politics, the stalker situation, or their personal lives. It could easily have passed for a first date, filled with the anticipation and excitement of learning to know someone new. She felt like someone she barely recognized and didn't want reality to eliminate the myth too soon. "I appreciate you rushing the plans."

"Since you have been so cooperative, it's the least I can do." Regina teased lightly.

The grin that tugged at the corner of Regina's mouth was enough to make Emma's blood race. She smiled back, wondering at the quick surge of pleasure that wasn't sexual, but still enormously satisfying. Then, with a jolt, it occurred to her that what was missing was the burning anger, her constant companion. That in itself was freighting. If she allowed herself to get used to this feeling, the emptiness and disappointment of her real life would be devastating. She was acutely aware of Regina's gaze drifting over her face. Regina had a way of looking at her that made her feel like there was no one else in the room; her glances as tangible as a caress. For an instant, Emma imagined that her skin tingled where Regina's eyes lingered. She struggled to keep her tone normal.

"I spoke with Ashley this afternoon. She can't wait to go."

"I'll get the team working on the arrangements first thing in the morning." Regina assured her.

"She told me she saw you today." Emma added nonchalantly. That was far from the way she had felt when Ashley casually remarked that she had lunch with Regina Mills.

"Yes. We had a bit of business to do."

"I'm sure." Emma said sarcastically. She knew very well the kind of business Ashley had in mind. She also knew exactly the kind of woman Ashley found attractive. Over the years, they had often found themselves in competition for the same women. When they were younger it had all been in fun, with no hard feelings whatever happened. This time, it felt like anything but fun. Angry at herself for allowing her irritation to show, Emma kept her eyes fixed on the dark swirling liquid in her glass, afraid of what her companion might see in her face.

Regina had a pretty good idea what Ashley had insinuated about their lunch. The charming art dealer her certainly made her interests quite obvious. Regina hadn't been offended by the obvious attempt at seduction, but she did not want Emma, for reasons she could not clearly define, to think she was so easily seduced.

"You know, Ms. Swan," Regina said gently, "sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."

"I can't believe you just said that!" Emma laughed, coaxed out of her anger by the ridiculousness of the image.

"Neither can I." Regina laughed with her, thinking how bright Emma's features were when she relaxed. "But in this case, it is relevant."

"I promise not to tell her." Emma confided, still smiling.

Grinning, Regina inclined her head gratefully. "Thank you."

With a sense of regret, Regina accepted the check from the waiter. Glancing at Emma in the glow of the candlelight, she felt an unfamiliar ache. When Emma's eyes met hers, Regina suddenly recognized the feeling, she saw it reflected in the beautiful face. Loneliness, and desire. "Are you ready to go?"

"No." Emma said softly. "Not at all."

They were both silent as Regina helped Emma into her coat and they walked out into one of those rare January nights when the stars could actually be seen over New York City. Emma actually forgot for a moment that there were three Secret Service agents dogging their every step. The meal had been wonderful, and the company even better. She stopped in mid step. Taking a chance, she asked, "I dint suppose I could interest you in a trip to the bar?"

Regina took a deep breath of the brisk air, searching for a way to answer that would not destroy their fragile truce. What Emma was asking for was more than a nightcap. Alone, in a bar, there was too much chance for casual intimacy, too much chance for a brief caress. For a second she remembered the way Emma's hands had felt on her last time they had met in the shadows. She shook her head, ignoring the quick surge of desire, refusing to acknowledge her own wishes. "I can't accompany you. But if you want to go out, I will see that the team is as discreet as possible."

"You didn't mind having dinner with me." Emma pointed out, still not moving, not caring that they were creating a minor obstacle to other passersby. She didn't want their evening to end. Her quiet dinner with Regina had been far more exciting than some breathless coupling with a nameless stranger.

"That was business."Regina responded. Christ, now you're lying to her. And at least she asked to go out. Every other time, she's just slipped away.

"Was it?"

"No." Regina knew very well she had stretched the definition of "business". They could have discussed the upcoming ski trip in the morning, but she had allowed the excuse of the trip to give her a reason to have dinner with Emma. She was on dangerous ground, and she could not let things progress further. She certainly could not go to a gay bar with Emma as anything resembling her date. And God knows I can't go cruising with her. Watching her pick up strangers for sex is going to drive me crazy.

"Then say yes, Regina. Come with me."

"I can't." Regina said intently. "I'm sorry."

"Are you?" Emma said softly, searching Regina's face.

Regina avoided her eyes. She'd said too much already. A muscle in her jaw jumped as she asked, "Do you want me to notify the unit that you'll be staying out?"

"No, thanks." Emma said bitingly. "When I go out, I don't want the company of Secret Service."

Regina supposed she deserved that. "Then may I walk you home?"

"Yes." Emma said with a sigh. "But for God's sake, tell them to stay off our heels. I'm perfectly safe with you."

Regina nodded, whispering instructions into her microphone. She appreciated that Emma could have been difficult about this. She was grateful that she would not have to worry about Emma's whereabouts, at least for the rest of the evening. And even more, she was thankful she would not have to worry about with whom Emma would spend the night with.


	9. Chapter 9

Several days later, they boarded a charted jet for their flight to Colorado. Their destination was a small, rustic resort not usually known as a tourist center. It was Emma's choice, and fortunately, likely to be less crowded and an easier setting in which to provide security. It was a fairly isolated location, far from any large cities, with few of the amenities so popular in Colorado ski resorts. There would be no nightly entertainment acts or other similar diversions. What there would be was hours of good skiing on challenging trails. For Emma and Ashley, it might be a vacation, but for Regina and her agents, it would be anything but. Arrangements had to be made for emergency transport from the hard to reach locale, the local police had to be notified of possible road closures in the event of evacuation, and surveillance points had to be mapped out in unfamiliar terrain. The team had worked long hours on short notice seeing to the details.

Regina settled into her seat and was just opening her newspaper when someone eased in beside her.

"This seat looks vacant." A familiar voice announced.

"These are not reserved seats." Regina shifted to smile at Ashley Boyd. "Good morning."

"Then I take it you don't mind the company the company?" Ashley smiled and brushed her hair back with a perfectly manicured hand.

"Not at all." Regina responded folding her paper. "Whatever news there might be, it can wait until later."

Ashley went in search for her seat belt, brushing her hand along the length of Regina's thigh as she did. She noted a subtle tensing under her fingertips, but Regina Mills, to her credit, did not pull away. Ashley could accept rejection, but she hated to have her advances ignored. She allowed her hand to linger a moment longer, then slowly removed it and extracted the seat belt from between them. "Do you ski, Commander?"

"Yes I do."

"Our Emma is quite the expert, did you know?"

"It doesn't surprise me," Regina commented. "She's very talented."

"She likes to ski the unmarked trails. She's very adventurous that way."

"I don't doubt it."

Ashley studied they dark brown eyes, searching for hidden meaning. She couldn't remember ever having met anyone quite so mysterious. And yet the agent was anything but cold. She radiated vigor, displayed alarming self-confidence, and seemed to do everything with an intense focus. Even though Regina Mills was enormously attractive with her lean, tautly muscled body and devilish good looks, it was more than simple physical appeal. The woman fumed with promise, the promise of passion, and that was something Ashley very much wanted to experience. And as she was coming to expect, she could read nothing in Regina's expression. Is there nothing that can shake her composure?

"Yes, Emma is a woman of many hidden skills." Ashley leaned against Regina's shoulder as she tightened her seat belt. "Then again, she doesn't bother to try and hide some of her interests. I'm sure you've noticed."

Regina had no intention on discussing Emma Swan with Ashley Boyd or anyone else. "And how is the gallery? Business good, I hope?"

"Ah, I see." Ashley murmured, casually pressing her breasts against Regina's arm. "Our Emma is off limits. Actually, that's perfectly alright with me. I'm much more interested in you."

Regina laughed at the woman's persistence. It was hard to be annoyed with someone who was so blatant about her intentions. In another place, in another time, she would not have resisted. It was a combination of the past, and her strange detached present, which prevented her from responding. Any kind of intimate involvement, any meaningful connection at all, was beyond her capability. In the months since Eva's death, she couldn't bring herself to touch a woman in any but the most casual way. Her impersonal arrangement with Angelina satisfied her physical needs, and she contented herself with that. She was functioning, she could work, and that was all she wanted. Quickly dispelling the memories, Regina warned. "I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you."

"Oh, I very seriously doubt that."

"I'm flattered—" Regina began.

Ashley laughed. "Oh please, Commander. You needn't explain to me the many reasons why you think you are unavailable. I am quite patient, and I enjoy the chase. Otherwise, where is the pleasure when you win?"

Regina shook her head, smiling at the sophisticated, supremely confident woman beside her. "Then I shall say no more."

"Good." Ashley wrapped her long, elegant fingers around Regina's wrist, squeezing gently before slowly withdrawing. "It would be to no avail."

They both settled back in their seats for takeoff. In the aisle seat one row behind them, Emma studied the two women. She was completely familiar with Ashley's tactics. She has known her for a long time and had witnessed her many conquests. This was the first time it mattered to her whether Ashley succeeded. The image of Ashley's hand on Regina's arm provoked a response she was finding hard to ignore. She hated the thought of Regina returning the caresses. Instinctively, she knew Regina Mills would not make love to a woman casually. What she couldn't know was how much that fact controlled Regina's life.

* * *

The group was greeted at the door to the lodge by a brunette in her mid-forties, who, even in winter, showed signs of a lingering tan. Her lither, trim figure bespoke her vigorous lifestyle. she greeted them warmly and ushered them into a rustic room scattered with sofas and comfortable looking overstuffed chairs arranged in front of a large stone fireplace. It was late afternoon, and a fire blazed on the hearth. Overhead lights, hidden in the exposed wooden beams of the ceiling, were turned on low and, in conjunction with the last rays of sunlight slanting through huge windows, bathed the room in a muted golden glow.

"I'm Vivian Cash." She said, extending her hand as Regina stepped over the threshold. "Just leave your gear here until we have the room situation straightened out. Then I'll have someone bring your bags up."

She looked from Regina to Emma, who was standing just to Regina's right. Of course, Vivian recognized her and expected Emma's entourage. Without a trace of shyness, Vivian offered her hand again. "I'm delighted to have you here, Ms. Swan. We have eighteen inches of packed snow with a three inch fresh fall from last night. The trails are perfect."

"Just the news I wanted to hear." Emma grinned, pleased at Vivian's lack of pretension and the genuine warmth in her greeting. "I can't wait to get out there."

Vivian nodded in perfect understanding. "First light at 5:30 tomorrow. After you're settled and have some dinner, I'll show you the trail maps. You can plan your course for the morning."

"I was hoping to get in a run or two this afternoon."

"Well, it'll be dark in an hour and a half. If you hurry, you could ski one of the shorter trails."

"Just give me some place to change." Emma said as she reached for her gear bag.

Vivian noticed the sudden tension in the group of individuals standing around Emma, but it seemed to her that this was Emma Swan's party, and if she wanted to ski, she should certainly be able to ski. "Right this way."

As Emma followed Vivian across the room and disappeared down a hallway, Regina turned to the others. She worked to keep her temper in check and her worry under wraps. We've been here all of ten minutes and she is already heading off on an unsecured trip. Jesus H. Christ.

"All right, everybody let's move. Graham, you take care of the room arrangements, preferably everyone on one floor. Make sure we have someone on either side of Cobra's room, and across the hall." Searching for her gear amidst the pile on the floor, she added, "Ruby, Carter, you get suited up and find out which trail she's going to run, then follow us out. Make sure you take an emergency kit with you. I'm going to change now so I can ski with her."

As usual, Emma's lack of regard for the realities of providing her protection had placed them in a difficult situation. They had no to completely survey the area, and they had no sense of who might be out on the trails with her. Regina was startled to feel the touch on her arm and stopped walking abruptly. For a moment, she had forgotten completely about Ashley Boyd.

"I should think you would be used to her by now, Commander." Ashley said softly. "As long as I've known her, she has refused to accept that she cannot behave like the rest of the world. She has always wanted to be simply ordinary."

"She'll never be ordinary." Regina said softly. She thought of her own childhood and of what it had been like growing up among her father's diplomatic friends and her mother's world-famous artists' circle. She remembered watching the other children walking to school from the windows of the limousine that took her almost everywhere. She had longed to be one of the anonymous crowd, knowing all the time that it was impossible. She knew the sadness of being different, and the loneliness of being separate, no matter how hard her parents tried to create the appearance of an ordinary life. And she had been only a diplomat's daughter. God, what must it have been like for Emma?

Ashley watched the emotions flickering through Regina's dark eyes, astounded at the depth pf the other woman's compassion and understanding, and a little frightened by her own response. She had long since abandoned the desire for anything beyond a casual physical relationship with the women in her life, but this one was different. There was something almost hypnotic in Regina's reserve, something tantalizing in her secrecy. She made you want to know her, without consciously inviting you near.

"If you'll excuse me." Regina said politely as she turned away, her mind on Emma.

"Of course. I'm sure Emma needs you." Ashley surprised to realize that she meant it, and as she watched the dark-haired agent walk away, for one of the few times in her life, she envied her old friend.

* * *

"God, that was great!" Emma exclaimed, stomping the snow from her boots and shedding her ski parka. She made her way to the small bar tucked into one corner of the huge lobby. "I'd love a glass of red wine." She said to the bartender. She turned to Ashley and Regina. "What about you two?"

"Martini for me." Ashley responded.

"Just coffee." Regina said.

"That's a fabulous trail, don't you think?" Emma enthused, tossing her head back and shaking her hair free. Her eyes were glowing, her cheeks faintly flushed from the cold air.

"It was everything it was advertised to be." Regina responded. She had been skiing since she was three, and it had taken every bit of her skill to keep up with Emma. The younger was not only an expert, but not surprisingly, she was fearless. Even in the descending light of the afternoon, she had blasted down the unfamiliar trail with ease.

Ashley, also a very accomplished skier, had followed several hundred yards behind them, skiing efficiently but much more cautiously. Regina had posted agents at the head and foot of the trail in constant communication with her via radio, but she was the only actually in near physical contact with Emma. Despite the low risk factor of this secluded resort, she did not want Emma very far from her sight. She hadn't skied so aggressively in ten years. She knew her muscles would be sore in the morning. Nevertheless, the sight of Emma's pleasure made it worth it. She was absolutely radiant, and Regina had a glimpse of what she might be like were the circumstances different. There was a jot and lightness about her that Regina had not seen before. Emma was more than beautiful; she was breathtaking.

Regina forced her gaze away from the president's daughter and gently placed her coffee cup on the bar top. "I think I am ready for a shower."

"Will you be down for dinner, Commander?" Emma asked quietly. She had loved the skiing, but she'd love the company more. Every time she'd look over and seen Regina's tight form tracking by her side, she'd felt more complete than she'd ever imagined.

"Yes." Regina replied before she turned slightly and murmured into her lapel microphone. Almost instantly, a stocky red-haired man appeared in the door way. Satisfied that her replacement was nearby, she walked away.

Emma watched her leave. Ashley did too, wondering if the Secret Service agent had any idea just how revealing her expression in her dark eyes could be. When Regina looked at Emma, the pleasure in her gaze was painfully evident. As quickly as it appeared, however it was gone. Ashley wondered what force of will it took for Regina to control her feelings so completely. She wondered to, why it was necessary.


	10. Chapter 10

Shortly after 5:00 the next morning, Emma pushed open the swinging doors to the kitchen and followed the scent of coffee. She found Vivian seated at a scarred wooden table that would easily seat sixteen, sipping the steaming brew and working on a crossword puzzle. Vivian smiled a greeting and gestured toward the coffeepot.

"Thanks." Emma grunted, reaching for a cup. Moving, slowly, she sank down beside Vivian at the table.

"Morning." When she got no reply, she waited until Emma had taken a sip of coffee, then asked, "Where are your friends?"

Emma grimaced, blowing across the top of the liquid to cool it. "I'm sure there is someone right outside the back door and another one in the dining room."

"Doesn't seem like much fun."

"Not exactly." Emma appraised her cautiously. She saw no hint of anything other than friendliness in her expression and frankness in her tone. She allowed herself a brief smile. "Well, I could lie and say I'm used to it. In fact, I am used to it, but I've never learned to ignore it. It bothers me."

"I can imagine. On the other hand, I guess it is impossible to let you run around by yourself."

"Apparently so." Emma laughed, one of the rare times she considered her own circumstances without an accompany rush of resentment. "My security chief would certainly agree."

"Agent Mills?"

"Yes."

"I did notice she seems rather intent on your well-being." There was no hint of insinuation in her voice.

To her utter dismay, Emma blushed.

"That must be comforting," Vivian added. "when it isn't annoying you."

"Yes." Emma whispered, wondering if the woman was a mind reader.

Vivian leaned back, inspecting the young woman across from her. This was not the sophisticated, perfectly turned out celebrity she was used to seeing on the television and in magazine articles. This woman was naturally beautiful, with no makeup, untamed hair, faded jeans and a baggy sweatshirt. Vivian would never have recognized her as the president's daughter. But she would not have overlooked her either.

"May I ask how you came to stay here?" Vivian asked.

"A friend of mine, Victoria Wetherby, has stayed here."

Vivian raised an eyebrow slightly, remembering the attractive young business woman from earlier in the season. "One of my most exciting guests.." She responded. "She was here with another very striking young girl, as I recall."

"Victoria usually is." Emma met her gaze evenly and was pleased to see that the other woman did not avert her eyes.

"You needn't be concerned about my discretion, Ms. Swan. My only interest is in providing my guests with good skiing and privacy. My only hope is that you have seven days of excellent running. I couldn't care less about your personal life."

Emma laughed. "Well, you may be the only person in America for whom that is true."

"I think you may be right." Vivian laughed with her.

* * *

An hour later, Regina walked into the lounge and helped herself to a cup of coffee from the large pot that was always ready on the sideboard. She turned, sipping gratefully at the aromatic brew, and met the eyes of Vivian Cash, who was working at a small desk tucked into one corner of the room. Vivian smiled pleasantly, and Regina nodded as she settled into one of the large leather chairs in front of the fireplace. After a moment, Vivian joined her own coffee.

"She's already out on the slopes." Vivian commented. It hadn't taken her long the evening before to determine just who was giving the orders among the group of people surrounding Emma Swan.

"Yes, I know."

"I suppose you do." Vivian said softly. "It must be very difficult for her."

Regina had been doing her job too many years to fall into the trap of casual conversation with a stranger. Especially a conversation about someone as high a profile as the president's daughter. However, there was something so genuine about the woman beside her, she felt strangely at ease. "I imagine it is."

Vivian might not have had any experience with the complicated relationship between a woman like Emma and those who guarded her, but she had plenty of experience with the attractions of one woman for another. She had had the opportunity to observe the reserved Secret Service agent and the first daughter together the previous night at dinner, and later in the evening when the group had gathered in the lounge. Emma Swan had barely taken her eyes off the security chief, and it seemed that Emma's best friend Ashley was captivated as well. The object of their attention, however, had revealed little, unless you were watching her. And Vivian had been watching her closely.

When the others were engaged in conversation, the dark-haired woman with the dark brown eyes watched the president's daughter with a penetrating intensity that should have left marks on her skin. Vivian had seen that look before, in the eyes of women who thought they knew their own hearts, and their own minds. In the eyes of the woman who refused to acknowledge the truth of their own feelings.

"It must be lonely for her." Vivian remarked quietly. "She could probably use a friend."

"She has friends." Regina sighed and gently replaced her cup on the coffee table. She walked towards the fireplace, watching the bark glow red and crumble from the logs as they burned brightly to their own destruction. "What she needs is to be free. That's something no one can give her."

"There are more ways than one to be free."

Regina watched the fire burn for a long time, knowing she had no answers. When she turned around she found she was alone.

* * *

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Emma commented as she joined Regina on the wide front deck of the ski lodge after dinner that night. The temperature was frigid, the air so crisp it tingled against her skin. The sky was impossibly black with stars so bright and so many of them it felt as if she were standing on the edge of heaven.

"Yes." Regina said pensively. "It is."

"You really shouldn't let Ruby play poker." Their breath left small clouds of white crystal hanging in the air. Despite the temperature, she was not cold. She had been waiting all evening for an opportunity to be alone with the security chief. Now that the time had come, her pulse raised and her stomach stirred with an excitement she couldn't ignore. "She's god-awful and a danger to herself. If she had been my partner, I would have murdered her."

"Card playing is a necessity for a Secret Service agent." Regina responded seriously, although the corners turned up in a smile.

"Yes, I am sure." Emma stepped closer until her shoulder brushed Regina's, surprised Regina did not move away. "Then again, I'm sure the Secret Service agents need to be talented in many things."

"Mostly hard working." Regina sighed. "Don't stay outside too long, Ms. Swan. It's colder than it seems."

"There are remedies for that you know." She rested her ungloved hand on Regina's bare wrist.

"Emma, I know how difficult all of this is for you—"

"I don't think you do." Emma said, stepping closer until they were face to face, their thighs lightly touching. "It's damned inconvenient finding a way to get one's security chief into bed without creating a national scandal."

"Perhaps there's a messaged there." Regina backed away just enough to break their contact. It was too hard for her to think with the heat of Emma's skin on hers.

"There may me, but I have no interest in it. All I'm interested in is you." Emma leaned forward, her lips very close to Regina's as she whispered. "Come to my room tonight, Regina. Please."

"I'm afraid you have mistaken my attentions." Regina said quietly. Emma Swan was easily the most attractive woman she had ever known, and if that wasn't enough, she was vulnerable on her unguarded moments. Regina wished there was some way to ease the younger woman's pain, but she could not allow her sympathy to interfere with her effectiveness. She reminded herself that the beautiful seductress was less interested in her than using her as the tool to break the chains of her invisible prison. She didn't even blame her, but reminding herself of it helped her to ignore the hammering of her heart and the rush of blood in her core. "Your physical well-being is my only concern. I am not interested in anything other than that."

The words ripped through Emma, causing her to flinch. She had not approached a woman with true desire in more years than she could count. It hurt, this rejection. The pain, and the fact that she's left herself open to it, angered her. As she turned and walked rapidly toward the door, she called maliciously, "Don't mistake lust for affection, Commander. My interests in you, as I believe you once said is strictly biological."

Regina watched her go, struggling with her own disappointment and, undeniably, her regret. Of course, she knew the she was only a potential conquest, but that did not lessen the sting of Emma's words.

* * *

A knock-on Regina's door brought her from deep sleep into adrenalized alertness in an instant. She grabbed her gun from the night table as her feet touched the floor. The bedside clock read 4:44 a.m. She looked through the peephole, relieved to see that the figure on the other side was not the shift leader of Emma's detail. Emma is all right.

Regina opened the door an inch and whispered "What is it, Ruby?"

Ruby Lucas stared white faced at her chief. She swallowed once audibly, and licked her suddenly dry lips nervously. "I need to talk to you, Commander."

"Can't it wait?"

"No ma'am, it can't."

"Okay, Agent, come in." Regina opened the door to admit her in, then replaced her gun in its holster on her bedside table. She switched on the lamp and motioned Ruby to a chair at the small desk in front of the windows. She sat down across from Ruby and looked at her searching for something. For a moment, she thought that Ruby might cry.

"I need to be transferred." Ruby said flatly.

"Is there some reason you felt you needed to wake me up in the middle of the night to tell me this?" Regina asked sharply. She had a bad feeling she knew where this conversation was going.

"I needed to tell you now. I need to leave first thing in the morning."

Regina sighed and leaned back from the table. She ran both hands over her face, then peered intently at the pale young woman across form her. "Do you want to tell me what this is all about?"

"I—I don't feel I can continue to carry out my assignment."

"That is not what you told me the day I arrived."

Ruby Lucas raised her eyes to Regina's for the first time. Her shoulders stiffened slightly. "I hadn't slept with her then."

Something hard settled deep in the pit of Regina's stomach. She clenched her jaw to stifle the curse that leapt to her lips. She stood abruptly, knocking her chair back a foot, and paced to the other side of the room. Then she turned so quickly in the small space that Ruby flinched. "Are you out of your goddamned mind?

"Commander...I... I have no excuse, ma'am." Ruby stood on shaky legs. "I'll send my resignation as soon—"

"Sit down." Regina fisted her hands, seething with fury, her formal composure strained to the breaking point. She knew instinctively she was handling this poorly, but her immediate reaction was one of deep anger, and, uncomfortably, something that felt a great deal like jealousy. "How in the hell did this happen?"

"It wasn't planned. It—I don't know—it just, she—" Ruby raised her hands in a helpless gesture. "I walked her to her room, and then we were talking, and then she kis—"

"I don't want to know the details." Regina snapped.

Once again, Ruby stiffened, but her eyes were clear and her voice steady when she answered. "She asked me, and I didn't say no."

"Jesus Christ." Regina muttered. Is there no end to the chaos that woman can create? Now I've got to deal with the potential ruin of a very capable young woman's career. "Who else knows?"

"No one. I waited until the hall was clear to leave her room."

Regina forced herself to think beyond her rage. Ruby's future depended upon it. "How do you feel about her now?"

Ruby looked at her chief in surprise. It was as if she had never considered the question before. "I don't know."

"Are you in love with her?" Regina asked quietly. For some reason, the words were hard to get out.

"I don't think so." Ruby said, clearly embarrassed. "It was—physical."

"Yes, I am sure it was." Regina said under her breath. She refused to think about the two of them together, but it was difficult keeping the image of Emma making love with this woman from her mind. She shook her head, forcing herself to deal with the real issues at hand. "I wish that there was some way I could overlook this, Agent Lucas, but I can't. Even if you have no personal feelings for her, I can't trust you to be objective. I can't trust you not to allow your relationship with her to cloud your judgement. It could be dangerous for her—and it could be dangerous for you."

"I know that, Commander." Ruby looked down at her folded hands resting on the tabletop, her expression one of clear misery. "I've thought of the nothing else for the last three hours. Ever since we...ever since...I've been agonizing over what to do."

"Why did you tell me?"

"Because if you found out and I hadn't told you, it would ruin my credibility forever." Ruby replied instantly, her tone surprised. "I made a mistake, but I know my duty."

"Do you?" Regina regarded her with growing respect. To Ruby's credit, she did not drop her gaze as Regina studied her in the lengthening silence. "Can you swear to me that there is no romantic attachment between you and Ms. Swan?"

"Yes ma'am, I swear."

"You may continue with your post, Agent Lucas. If I find that your judgment or performance is compromised in any way, I will transfer you immediately without regard for its impact on your career."

"Yes ma'am. I understand ma'am." Ruby stood, nearly at attention. "Thank you so much."

Regina nodded suddenly weary. As the door closed behind the young agent, Regina stretched out on the bed and stared at the ceiling. She ached inside, an ache of loss for something she hadn't even known she needed. Eventually she closed her eyes and tried to ignore the image of Emma Swan naked, her legs entwined with the shadowy figure of Ruby Lucas. Sleep wouldn't come, and eventually she rose, showered, and went downstairs to greet the morning.

* * *

"May I join you?"

"If you wish."

Emma did not miss the stiffness in Regina's voice, nor the cold, smoldering anger in her eyes. "I take it you know I had company last night."

"I am aware of it."

For some reason, Emma took no satisfaction in making it clear to her security chief that Regina was irreplaceable, especially in her bed. In fact, she had been plagued by an unfamiliar uneasiness throughout a restless night. For the first time in her memory, she felt regret about one of her sexual encounters. Regret that the entire time she made love to Ruby Lucas, she had wished for another's body beneath her lips, beneath her fingers. Regret that even as the young woman lay spent and vulnerable in her arms, she felt no love for her. Regret that the woman she had taken to her bed had been cheated by that very fact.

"You realize that you put her career in jeopardy?" Regina gritted her teeth, trying desperately to control her temper. She wasn't certain with whom she was most angry—Ruby Lucas from her lack of judgment or Emma Swan for her total lack of discretion in choosing her bed partners. Looking at Emma, Regina had to struggle even now not to imagine those soft sensuous lips on her body. She had known Emma's embrace, however fleetingly, and despite her anger, she found it difficult to banish the memory. "Ruby...Jesus Christ."

"If it makes any difference to your sense of ethics, it wasn't exactly her idea." Emma pushed back her chair and stood, her breakfast untouched on the table. She stared down at Regina with something close to remorse in her eyes. Nevertheless, her voice was bitter. "And I'm done with her now. It won't happen again."

Without waiting for an answer, the president's daughter turned away. She didn't so much as glance in Ruby Lucas' direction.

Regina sat for a moment, watching Emma cross the dining room in angry strides. She struggled for composure, knowing that her anger would only cloud her judgment and make it more difficult for her to do her job. Two of her agents moved quietly from the room to follow Emma at a discreet distance. Regina was confident that they would be ready should the president's daughter decide to leave the lodge. Let her go and just do the job. Just do the job.

* * *

Half an hour later, Regina gathered her gear and stepped out into a glorious Colorado morning. The air was crystal clear, the on the snow blazing white glare forced her to pull her ski goggles on immediately. She knew from communications with the day shift team leader that Emma was on the upper slopes preparing to spend the morning on a long and challenging downhill trail. She skied to the lift to join them.

By the time Regina reached the peak, Emma was about to start her first run down the mountainside. Regina pushed off after her, staying just slightly behind to give Emma plenty of room to maneuver over the steep slope. Content to follow, Regina kept her eye on Emma's speeding form as she cut through the pristine, snow covered slopes. She felt only a momentary flicker of surprise when a dark form hurled from a strand of trees twenty feet from the trail and headed directly for Emma Swan.

Fear was not an emotion that Regina allowed herself. It merely slowed her reflexes and clouded judgment. In the second it took her to reach for her gun, she saw the figure collide into Emma, who went down in a cloud of snow and ice. Instantly, Regina was struck with a sense of déjà vu so sharp that it nearly made her dizzy. The image of Eva falling, an explosion of red on her chest, glided into Regina's mind like a familiar slide on a well viewed screen. Her stomach clenched as panic threatened to engulf her.

As quickly as the memory formed, Regina forced it away, focusing all of her attention on Emma. The assailant had fallen from the force of the impact and was struggling to rise in the snow a few feet away from Emma. Regina skidded to a stop at her side and stepped out of her bindings before she had even stopped moving. She threw herself over Emma's immobile body, her gun trained on the figure not far away. With her other hand, she pulled her radio from her belt, shouting hoarsely, "Code red! Code red!"

Even as Regina curled herself protectively around Emma's still form, other agents emerged from the trees on either side, guns drawn, shouting for the assailant to get down. Within seconds, they surrounded him. As soon as Regina was certain that the immediate danger to Emma had passed, she switched radio frequencies and requested urgent transport and medevac unit to meet them on the slopes. Then, heart pounding triple time, she carefully eased herself off Emma's body. Rapidly, she holstered her Glock and pulled off her gloves.

Jesus, don't let her be hurt badly. Please, please, not her.

Emma on her back, eyes closed. She wasn't moving. Her face was pale, so pale.

"Emma, can you hear me?" Gently, Regina pressed two fingers to her neck to find a pulse. The pulse was strong and steady, but she appeared to be unconscious.

"Commander?" A voice from nearby called anxiously.

With fingers that trembled only slightly, Regina opened Emma's jacket and slipped her hand inside, searching for evidence of a wound. It was entirely possible that the assailant had slipped a knife or ice pick into her during the collision. She didn't even spare the other agents a glance, but called out, "Get him down the mountain to a secure site. And get me a goddamned medevac unit up her. Now. Right now."

One part of her mind worked efficiently, by the book, while another part was filled with terror that threatened to choke her. She slipped her hand under Emma's sweater, finding no evidence of blood. She slid her fingers over the tight abdomen and then tried to check Emma's back without turning her.

"Regina?" Emma whispered groggily. "Regina?"

"Yes." Regina looked down into Emma's unfocused green eyes, relief surging through her. "Just lie still."

"What...God my head...what...?"

"Everything is ok. You're safe." Carefully, Regina ran her hands along Emma's sides, then onto her chest. Still no sign on a wound. Thank God.

"What are you doing?"

"Just checking." Regina muttered, her fear subsiding as Emma's voice grew stronger.

"I've been wanting you to do this, but not here." Emma commented weakly, a smile flickering uncertainly across her face. She started to push herself up and winced as a bunch of fireworks began to go off in the back of her head. She fell back limply, groaning faintly.

"Damn it, lie still."

"No choice. What the hell happened?"

"I don't know yet." Regina said grimly as she zipped up Emma's jacket and then removed her won. Emma was shivering. She spread her jacket over Emma's body. "How do you feel?"

"Keep that on." Emma muttered. "You will fre...freeze."

"Shut up, Emma." Regina murmured, but she grinned. "What hurts?"

"Just my head." Emma slowly moved each arm and leg a fraction. Her vision was clearing, and other then a major headache, she seemed to be fine. "I'm okay."

"We'll have you off the ground in a minute." Regina said gently. She lifted her radio and barked into it. "Where the hell is my medivac?"

Static was all she heard for a moment, and then Graham's voice.

"The helicopter was delayed because of cloud cover. We have an ambulance on its way and there should be snowmobiles on site in approximately two minutes."

"I copy that." Regina didn't like it. It was sloppy work. They should have been informed that the helicopters were unavailable. Nevertheless, at the moment there was nothing she could do.

"I don't want to go to a hospital." Emma reached for Regina's arm, gripping her with surprising strength. "The media will be all over this. My father is in the middle of a summit meeting on disarmament, and there's no reason for him to be disturbed."

"It's okay. I'll take care of it." Regina had no intention of arguing with Emma. Even now, her team was taking the suspect downhill to the lodge. She would question him herself as soon as Emma was taken care of. She had to approach this as if it were an attempt on Emma's life, because that was all she could assume it was. The time for respecting Emma's wishes was past. This was not something she could compromise about. "Just let me worry about it."

"You're in charge, Commander." Emma watched Regina's jaw tighten, and she knew there was no room for negotiation. "At least let me call him. Tell him I'm okay before this is all over the news."

"Of course. Just as soon as you're off this mountain." She brushed her hand through Emma's hair. "Now lie still, the stretcher's almost here."

Emma grasped Regina's hand and curled her fingers around Regina's. "Don't leave."

"No." Regina whispered, wanting to take her in her arms but knowing that she couldn't. For so many reasons. She contented herself with getting down in the snow as close to her as she could get. "No. No, of course I won't."

* * *

Six hours later, Regina nodded to Ruby who was seated outside Emma Swan's hospital room. Ruby jumped to her feet.

"Commander."

Regina studied her and the three empty coffee cartons on the floor by her side. Her eyes were over bright and the tremor in her hands was visible from five feet away. Regina lifted her radio and keyed it. "Graham, send relief for Ruby now."

"I'm fine, Commander."

"No, you're not. Get some sleep." Regina ignored the embarrassed blush that followed and gently pushed the door open. She stood for a moment, trying to determine in the dim light if Emma was awake.

"Regina?"

"Yes."

"Come in. Leave the light off though. It tends to make me vomit."

"Roger that." Regina approached the bed and stood looking down at Emma. Still too pale. She had to hold in the urge to reach out and touch her. she tried not to let her worry show. "Did I wake you?"

"No. I was just lying here plotting my escape." Emma said weakly.

Regina laughed with just a hint of sarcasm. "Why is it that I believe you?"

A faint smile flickered across Emma's lips. For an instant her eyes sparkled with a youthful joy that had not been present for many years. "Perhaps because you're starting to learn my tricks."

"No." Regina edged a chair close to the side of the bed and sat, leaning forward so that Emma could see her without sitting up. Softly she said, "I doubt very much that I will ever recognize all of your tricks."

"You might if you gave me a chance to teach you." Emma whispered.

It was Regina's turn to smile as she chose to ignore the remark. Emma was ill, vulnerable, and this was not the time for them to struggle. "How do you feel?"

"Crappy." Emma answered in an uncharacteristic manner. "I feel like a bus hit me."

"Should I call a nurse? Can I get you anything?" Regina asked. She hated seeing her like this. Her fire and fury were infinitely preferable.

"Your company will do."

Regina stared at Emma's hand lying motionless on the thin hospital issue covers. She remembered the grace with which that same hand had moved across the sketchpad, capturing her likeness with startling perceptiveness. No one since her mother had been able to portray her so accurately. Without meaning to, she gently covered Emma's slender fingers with her own. She had meant only to reassure her, and found herself reassured instead by the answering press of Emma's fingers slipping through hers.

"Did you speak to your father?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"Good." She was having a hard time sorting out her priorities. For a brief moment on the mountainside, she had thought that Emma was injured, perhaps badly. Her choking fear was much more than just her concern for the person she guarded. She could not bear the thought of Emma being harmed, and she dared not examine too closely the reasons why. She cleared her throat, trying to ignore the sudden tingling in her hand as Emma's fingers intertwined more tightly with hers.

"Your assailant was a sixteen-year-old boy who decided he was going to ski downhill through the trees from an adjoining trail. He wasn't even supposed to be out there, but somehow no one was watching that part of the course. He had no idea who you were, and in fact, I still don't think he does."

"So, I'm safe for the moment?" Emma asked with just a hint of bitterness.

"This seems unrelated to the events in New York. We've managed to keep this very low profile, and I don't think there's going to be much about it in the media."

Emma sighed gratefully. "Thank you. I want to get out of here this afternoon and go to the lodge."

"Why does that not surprise me either?" Regina said with resignation. "I've taken the liberty of checking with your doctors, and they told me that if your headache is okay, they'd be willing to discharge you."

"Good. I can handle a headache. I feel like I'm in a fishbowl in here."

"You're sure?" She resisted the urge to brush the strands of blonde hair off Emma's cheek. "You took a heavy hit out there."

"I've had worse in the ring." Emma tried to sound tough but her voice was thin. "I'll take it easy. Just get me out of here. Please."

The plea was so unlike her that Regina's heart twisted in sympathy. She released Emma's hand and stood. "I'll see to the arrangements."

"Thank you."

"No need to thank me." Regina replied, her throat suddenly tight. You're okay. That's all that matters.

Regina was almost to the door when Emma spoke.

"And thank you for protecting me this afternoon." She said softly. She still felt the unexpected comfort of Regina's embrace as she had laid in her arms in the snow.

"You don't need to thank me for that wither Ms. Swan." Regina gripped the handle so hard her fingers ached. For a brief moment, she felt again the sheer terror she had experienced as she had watched Emma fall. She could not afford to feel that for her. She could not afford to feel anything for her. In a tone harsher than she intended, she said sharply, "I was only doing my job."

Then she was gone, and Emma was alone once more.

"How's your head?" Regina asked as she slipped in the seat next to Emma. She'd been watching Emma ever since take off a half hour before. The blonde had grown paler with each passing minute until her face was now chalk white. Her normally crystal clear green eyes were dark pools of misery.

"I'll live." Emma responded quietly. In fact, the slightest vertical movement of the aircraft produced a wave of nausea that threatened to overpower her considerable self-control. Fortunately, the skies were clear, and the jet streaked to New York City with very little turbulence. Otherwise, she was very much afraid she would embarrass herself.

Regina inclined her head closer, although the other agents and Ashley were ten rows further forward, engaged in conversation or napping. She and Emma were quite alone. Even so, Regina did not want their private conversation overheard. "You don't have to be a hero, you know. Why don't you take a couple of pain pills and try to rest?"

Emma started to shake her head and abruptly stopped when the slight movement caused her stomach to turn. "Believe me, Commander, I am no hero. The problem is, the pain pills tend to make me sicker than the pain."

"They affect me that way too." Regina shifted in her seat pushed the center armrest up out of the way, then laid her left arm along the back of the seats. Indicating her shoulder with the tip of her chin, she said softly, "Lean back and close your eyes for the rest of the flight. It's probably the only thing that will do any good. Believe me, I've been in your position more than once. The only way to get though it is pills or sleep."

Emma didn't even have the energy to challenge Regina on the show of friendship, believing the act of kindness to be motivated by sympathy rather than any special feelings for her. Nevertheless, what she needed at the moment was precisely what Regina offered. Simple human comfort.

"Thanks." Moving carefully, Emma allowed herself to relax against Regina's side, resting her head in the curve of Regina's arm. She knew she wouldn't sleep, but perhaps if she closed her eyes the pain would lessen.

"Don't mention it." Gently, Regina stretched her legs out in front of her and settled back into the seat. In only a minute or two, she knew form the rhythmic movement of Emma's chest that she had fallen asleep. The faint background drone of the engines and the warmth of Emma's body along her side put her into a sense of peacefulness that she had long forgotten. She stared out the window and thought of nothing. For those few precious hours, Emma's presence was all she needed. As she dozed. She rested her cheek on the fragrant softness of Emma's hair.

* * *

As the plane touched down, Regina and Emma awoke together. Neither of them moved. Regina's hand had drifted down from the seat and was curled gently along Emma's side, resting just beneath her breast. In her sleep, Emma had turned to thread her arm around Regina's waist. She lay with her head beneath Regina's chin, resting in her arms. They held each other as if it had always been.

As the others in the cabin began to stand and stretch, Regina lifted her arm from around Emma's body, aware of how much she did not want to let her go. "Ms. Swan, we need to depart."

With a sigh, Emma pushed herself upright and brushed her hands through her hair. She noticed with just a hint of surprise that her headache was gone. "Yes, of course we do."

She glanced at Regina, startled to see a look that might have been regret cross her handsome face. Then, the professional impenetrable mask returned.

"I'll see you on the ground." Rising from her seat, Regina added, "You look better. Feeling okay?"

"Yes, thank you, Commander."

Regina smiled and left her then to move forward and speak to her people regarding the plans for transportation back to the apartment. Ashley worked her way down the aisle to Regina's vacant seat.

"You two looked very cozy together." She remarked dryly.

"Leave it alone, Ashley." Emma said quietly.

Ashley bit back the retort she had been about to make. There was something in her old friend's voice that warned her off. In fact, they had looked very good together. Too good together. They looked as if they held each other a thousand times before. Ashley simply shook her head and left unspoken her words of caution. Something told her that Emma was beyond hearing.


	11. Chapter 11

Regina set down her coffee on the worktable and glanced over at Graham with a quizzical lift of her eyebrow. "Is she still upstairs?"

"Yup, three days straight." Graham said shaking his head. "Still no briefing?"

"No. Just a message that she had no plans." Regina wasn't sure what to make of it, but she knew she didn't like it. ever since they had touched down at the airport, Emma had not been herself. She had sent word that she intended to work in her studio and would not require daily meetings with Regina. Regina had not protested, feeling that to do so would be a further invasion of Emma's privacy. Nevertheless, the atmosphere in the command center resembled the calm before the storm. All of them expected Emma to burst out from her isolation once again and lead them on a wild goose chase. For her part, Regina almost wished she would. There was something unnerving about the sudden change in Emma's behavior.

Regina picked up her coffee and headed to her small glass enclosed office. Graham looked at her, thinking Emma Swan wasn't the only one who was not acting like herself.

As the week progressed without change, waiting became the new routine. Shifts changed, agents came and went. Those on site passed the time reading, playing cards, and generally wondering when the bomb will drop. Regina spent as little time as possible within the confines of the command center. She jogged, she worked out, she read in her apartment. She left strict orders to be called the moment Emma gave any indication that she was preparing to leave the building and tried not to think about how much she missed seeing her every day. Eight nights after their return from Colorado, the call finally came.

"Cobra is moving." Graham informed her.

"What? Alone?"

"Yes, ma'am. She just got into a cab and is headed downtown."

"God damn it." Regina cursed. "How did you let that happen?"

"There wasn't anything we could do short of physically stopping her." Graham's discomfort was apparent, even over the phone. "She just walked out of the building without warning, stepped into the street, and flagged down a taxi. We were lucky to get the car out fast enough to follow her."

Regina sighed slightly in relief. "Then you have a location on her?"

"Yes we do. Hold on a second." Regina paced the confines of her living room, the cell phone gripped tightly in her hand. Although they had no further contact from whoever had left the note outside Emma's door, she was worried that they weren't the only ones watching the president's daughter. Anytime Emma was without an escort, Regina was fearful for her safety.

"She just went into a bar on Houston." Graham informed her.

"Name and address?" Regina asked.

"Ambrosia." Graham stated. After a second, he gave her the address as well.

"Hold a team outside with the vehicle. I'm on my way."

Less than fifteen minutes later, Regina entered the bar, scanning the already crowded dance floor and surrounding tables for Emma. It was approaching midnight on a Saturday night, and the room was packed. The lighting was dim and the air thick with smoke, making it difficult for her to see across the room. She threaded her way through the clusters of people at the perimeter of the room, guessing that Emma would be in the shadows somewhere. Sure enough, she finally saw her talking to a young woman with impressive tattoos encircling both upper arms.

The woman with Emma was obviously a serious body builder. Her tight white tank top was clearly meant to display her hard earned physique, and her low cut jeans showed off her muscular thighs to full advantage. At the moment, her hand was stroking the length of Emma's bare arm, drawing closer to Emma's breast with each movement. Regina gritted her teeth and tried to ignore the seduction in progress. Watching as Emma pressed closer to the other woman, she remembered the brief moment when Emma had moved against her like that, claiming her effortlessly with a kiss. Regina's body immediately stirred to the memory, her clit hardening almost instantly.

Jesus Christ, what the hell is the matter with you?

Regina forced herself to ignore the throbbing between her thighs. Nevertheless, she found herself averting her gaze when Emma cupped the woman's face in her hand and licked slowly along the edge of her jaw, finally thrusting her tongue between the parted lips. That was the moment when Regina finally admitted to herself that she couldn't do what she had come there to do. She couldn't watch Emma touch another woman, and if she couldn't, she couldn't protect her either. Anger surged through her as she spoke harshly into her wrist microphone.

"I want the first team in here now to take over this surveillance." She instantly turned her back as the two women began to kiss ferociously, their hands roaming over each other with abandon. As soon as she saw Ruby and Suarez enter the bar, she pushed her way through the crowd and out onto the street. She crossed quickly to the second car and radioed headquarters.

"Graham, I want you to take over for me for the next twelve hours. If there's an emergency, page me. Otherwise, I'm unavailable." She didn't wait for a reply but knocked on the glass partition to get the agent's attention. "Take me to the airport."

As she waited in a terminal for her flight, she dialed a familiar number in Washington, D.C. and arranged for the only hope she had of driving Emma from her consciousness.

* * *

"Ah God...I cant." Regina gasped hoarsely. "I'm sorry...I want to. I just can't."

The blonde raised her head, gazing up the long expanse of Regina's torso. "That's not what your body is telling me."

"Tired." Regina sighed. "Too tired."

"You don't have to do anything." Angelina rested her cheek against Regina's thigh, one hand softly stroking between Regina's legs. "Besides, I'm not done yet."

"I think I am. It's not your fault." Regina gently ran her fingers into the hair at the back of her visitor's neck. She tugged lightly. "Come lay beside me."

Angelina slipped from between Regina's legs and moved up to recline against her body, resting her head on Regina's shoulder. Her hand lay on Regina's stomach, stroking lazy circles. They had very rarely been together this way, so close, for so long. There was an intimacy that was new; wonderful and frightening at the same time. The boundaries between business and affection had blurred for her some time ago, but until now, she had had it under control. Something had changed, and it appeared to be her dark haired client. Some barrier had fallen, leaving the formerly guarded woman open, more exposed. Even more desirable, if that were even possible. Angelina pressed her lips to Regina's shoulder. "Let me. You need this."

"No." Regina shifted slightly, brushing a kiss across Angelina's forehead. Softly, she said, "Let me make love to you."

"That's not what this is about." Angelina protested gently, fearing the regret that would follow, perhaps for both of them. "I don't need you to do that."

"I need to." Regina insisted. It was the first time she had ever suggested it. She wanted to touch someone, needed to see if she still could. "After all this time, I want to give you something back."

"Just hold me." Angelina responded, hearing what Regina wasn't saying. She knew that Regina wanted more than to thank her. She wanted to say goodbye, whether she knew it or not. Over the years, there had been many goodbyes. This was the one that was going to be the hardest. "Hold me. That's all I need."

"I can do that." Regina murmured, her lips against Angelina's temple. She cradled the other woman closer, closed her eyes, and tried to empty her mind. Tried not to think about her anger and confusion every time she imagined Emma making love to yet another stranger. Tried to ignore the jealousy, knowing that she had no right to it. Tried to ignore the simple fact that she wanted it to be Emma next to her in the night. She sighed, tracing her fingertips over Angelina's arm as she drifted.

Angelina listened to the steady heartbeat beneath her cheek as she ran her fingers lightly over Regina's flushed skin. Gently, she traced the outline of her ribs and hip, stroked the soft curve of the underside of her breasts, smoothed the flat of her hand over the taut muscles of her stomach. She didn't hurry. There was no end except the dawn.

Slowly, Regina relaxed under the undemanding touch. Eventually, her thoughts were covered by an awareness of her body's response to Angelina's attention. Her skin began to tingle, her leg muscles tightened, and her hips rolled gently with each stroke. Her clit once again swelled in anticipation. This time, the urgency was gone, and she allowed herself to simply accept the pleasure. Her mind collapsed into a single point of sensation, centered within the pulsating pressure between her legs.

"Ahh...that's good."

"Yes."

Groaning faintly, she lifted her pelvis higher, silently urging Angelina's hand lower. Her breath escaped on a sigh as two fingers enclosed her clit, moving slowly along its length. Wetness spread along the inside of her thighs, and when one soft stroke brushed the warm moisture over the exposed nerves, she moaned again.

"God, that makes we want to come." She murmured breathlessly.

"Don't rush." Angelina whispered softly. She slipped two fingers inside, then back out and upward, a steady rhythm that matched Regina's unconscious movements. She sensed the building pressure and felt the tender tissues beneath her fingertips thicken even more, swelling to the point of explosion.

"I want to come." Urgent now.

"Yes. Soon."

Regina gripped the sheets convulsively in her left hand, her right arm holding Angelina tightly. She turned her face against the sweet comfort of Angelina's skin and allowed her body to surrender to the inevitable. As her stomach clenched and a hoarse cry was wrenched from her depths, Emma Swan's face flickered across the inner surface of her eyelids.

* * *

Three hundred miles away, Emma stood in a studio apartment on the fourth floor of a building in Middlemist Village that had seen better days. She casually studied the clothes hanging on the rack that had been pushed into the corner, seeming to have forgotten the woman who had brought her there.

"Nice collection of ties you have here." Emma commented as she fingered the lengths of silk and cotton draped over a hanger at the end of the rack. Without looking at the other woman, she continued, "Let's see what kind of use we can put these to. Why don't you take your clothes off and lie face down on the bed."

"What?" The young butch stared at her in amazement. Clearly, Emma's blonde hair, make up, and braless breasts beneath the tight white t-shirt did not necessarily spell "femme."

"You heard me." Emma remarked as she turned with a handful of wide silk ties in her hand. "Now do it."

As much as she hated to relinquish herself assumed dominance, Emma's partner was intrigued and more than a little excited by the commanding tone in Emma's voice. Trying to maintain her façade of nonchalance, the dark-haired body builder removed her leather and denim, pulled of her briefs, and shed her boots and socks. Naked, and feeling more than a little uncertain, she lay face down on her own bed, welcoming the pillow that allowed her to hide her face.

"Better." Emma crossed to her side and slipped a loop fashioned from one of the ties around the women's right wrist. She ran the length of the fabric over the edge of the sofa bed and around the frame, then quickly followed suit with the other wrist and both ankles. Once the woman was totally immobilized, she removed the pillow.

"I want you to be able to breathe. But keep your eyes closed."

Emma stepped back, lit several candles she had noticed on the windowsill, and placed them on the small end table. In the flickering candlelight, she studied the woman's body. She was beautiful. Smooth, tight skin the color of light cocoa. Muscles rippling under the sweat slick surface. Thick hair just beginning to curl at the base of her neck. Her face in profile was sharply defined and arrogant even in peace. Altogether, she was a fine specimen of young butch sexuality.

Still, Emma had to struggle not to compare her form to the long, lean lines of Regina's body. She did not want to remember the alluring maturity etched into Regina's elegant features, or the smoldering sensuality in her dark eyes, or the aching softness of her full lips. For the last week she'd tried everything she knew to forget the plane ride and Regina's arm around her, hours upon hours of work, secluded in her loft. It hadn't worked. The only way she could hope to drive Regina from her awareness was to fill her senses with the sight, and the sound, and the feel of another woman.

"Lie still."

Still fully clothed, Emma climbed onto the bed and stretched out on top of the restrained woman. She ran her fingers over the surface of the bound arms, tasted the salt at the base of her neck, sucked an earlobe into her mouth. Dimly, she heard a groan as she captured the soft skin along the jaw between her teeth, tugging lightly, quickly erasing the pinpoints of pain with a kiss.

"No." Emma breathed when her captive struggled to turn her face, desperately seeking Emma's lips. Sitting up slightly, Emma traced the muscles of the other woman's shoulders and back and hips, ending at her well-formed buttocks. Moving down the bed, she kneaded the thick gluteal muscles, pushing and separating them, exposing the cleft between them to her view. She traced the puckered muscle, then pressed lightly.

"Oh, please." The young stranger moaned, an edge of fear in her voice.

"Quiet." Emma said softly. "I won't hurt you."

She knelt between the strong, now quivering thighs and circled the sensitive tissues with a moistened fingertip. The tight sphincter spasmed as she softly stroked the outer rim.

"Oh God." No fear now. Need.

Emma ran her tongue between the woman's splayed thighs, tasting for the first time the thick, intoxicating juices of her young lover's desire. She licked lightly over the swollen folds, traced the channel with her tongue, kissed the thickening clit, moving tantalizingly from one spot to the next.

"If you...oh, you'll make me come," gasped the young woman.

"Soon." Emma murmured.

"Want to now...so bad."

Emma lost herself in the sensations, in the intoxicating smell, the incredible softness, the welcoming heat. This was woman, any woman, every woman. As she pressed her face deeper, immersing herself, she felt her liver's impending orgasm flutter between her lips. Quickly, she stretched out full length on the bed and encircled the woman's waist, frantically caressing the engorged tissues with her lips and tongue. As the body beneath her convulsed amidst sobs and cries and choked moans, Emma squeezed her eyes tightly closed, wanting to know only this incredible moment of intense connection. But even with the woman climaxing in her mouth, Emma couldn't help but wish it were Regina Mills surrendering to her touch.

* * *

Regina rolled over and fumbled for the phone on the bedside table. The digital clock read 4:45. She was disoriented as to where she was and exactly what time it was. The bed beside her was empty, but there was a lingering warmth that suggested it had recently been occupied. As the phone rang, her eyes adjusted to the dark and she recognized her own bedroom in Washington D.C. As she lifted the receiver, her mind registered her recent flight from New York and her frantic attempts to forget Emma Swan in the embrace of another woman.

"Mills." She growled, trying to ignore the unsettling thoughts.

"It's Graham, Commander. I'm sorry to disturb you, but I thought you would want to know-"

Regina sat up abruptly in bed, her mind crystal clear, but her heart pounding. "Cobra? Is she secure?"

"Yes, ma'am." Graham hurried to assure her. "We have her under constant surveillance, and we know exactly where she is. But we just received another contact from Loverboy."

That was the name the security team had given the unidentified subject who had left the note at Emma's door.

"What is it?" Regina asked as she swung out of bed and began searching the room for her clothes. She noticed a folded sheet of notepaper on her dressing table and slipped it into the pocket of her pants.

"Photographs." Graham said grimly. "There's a very good close up of Cobra leaving the apartment building last night. Infrared, professional quality."

"Son of a bitch. That means he's been watching the building from somewhere close by. How did you get them?" Phone under her chin, Regina hastily buttoned her shirt, then threaded a narrow leather belt through the loops of her pants. A second later she had found one shoe and was peering under the bed for the other.

"Joy Carter noticed a manila envelope propped up against the counter in the lobby when she came on for the night shift. It had Cobra's name on it."

Regina stopped abruptly in the middle of the floor, a shoe in one hand, her phone in the other. She felt a brief thrill of joy. "Then we've got him! There are video cameras all over that lobby as well as the entrance. We must have an image of him. I want all of the tapes brought up to the command center for review. Also, run a check on the license plates of every car parked around the park right now. Then contact the cab companies for all fares in the last twenty-four hours to within a ten-block radius of Cobra's address."

"That's a lot of legwork, Commander." Graham said doubtfully.

"See that it's done." She barked.

"Yes, ma'am!"

"I'll catch the next commuter flight. Assemble the entire team, day and night shifts, at 0700." "Roger that."

"At Graham." Regina continued in a quieter voice. "Get Cobra back to her apartment."

There was a beat of silence over the line. Graham cleared his throat, choosing his words carefully. He wasn't sure why, but he felt uncomfortable delivering the next information. "uh, Commander, at the moment, Cobra is with an unidentifiable female, who almost certainly does not know Cobra's identity. If we provoke her, there is no way we'll be able to guarantee silence regarding her identity."

Regina flashed back to the young woman Emma had been fondling in the bar. Of course, Emma would have gone home with her. And why not? The stranger was just the kind of conquest Emma would thrill to.

"Then I want her in a car the moment she steps out onto the sidewalk. And Graham, if anyone loses her, it's their job."

"I guarantee I will have her back here ASAP." As he hung up the phone, he said a quick prayer that he could deliver on his promise.


	12. Chapter 12

At 0659, Regina walked into the command center and strode to the head of the table where the entire team was gathered. Despite her lack of sleep, she looked focused and intent. Without preamble, she said, "Let's have the analysis on the photograph."

Ben Bass, a short, mildly overweight, glasses wearing agent, cleared his throat. He was the resident nerd, the computer genius and technical wizard. "We've analyzed the potential elevation and angle of view by predicting from the available shadows and  
/the estimated time of day."

"Cut to the chase, Agent." Regina snapped with a rare show of impatience.

"Uh, basically, the photograph was taken from one of the buildings facing Cobra's across Boro Grove." He looked down at the tabletop uncomfortably.

"The rooftop?"

"Not necessarily, Commander." Bass blinked rapidly behind his glasses. "Height projection suggest anywhere above eighty feet."

"That leaves us with a lot of potential sites, Agent Bass." Regina stared at him, biting back another sarcastic remark. It wasn't his fault that he couldn't manufacture evidence.

"Yes, ma'am, I know that." Bass nodded almost miserably. Like every other agent in the room, he had come to value his position on this team and felt a sense of loyalty to his intense, demanding commander. "What it does tell us is that the shooter hasa  
fixed location, rather than a vehicle. Therefore, there is a better chance of finding him, since he may be relatively stationary."

"You're right." She took a minute to settle herself. Her impatience was born of fear, and she needed to curb both emotions. Emma Swan will not be harmed. Not now. Not ever. "Okay, I want a list of every occupant of every building on each side of the square,not  
just the street directly across from this building. He could live in one place and be using a different location for his surveillance. You'll need to check realtors, building managers, and also any corporations which lease apartments for use byemployees.  
It is possible that our mystery man is only here intermittently when business demands it."

"We have people assigned to begin the inspection at the opening of business hours." Graham interjected.

"Fine. Bass, pull all the tapes from last night. Let's see if we can spot the drop."

They spent a few moments reviewing other methods of narrowing down the list of potential perpetrators who might have access to the surrounding buildings. Regina outlined the change in coverage that would be required ow that the threat status has beenupgraded.  
Finally, she looked around the table, meeting the eyes of each of her agents.

"I'm going to have to report this to the White House. At this point, we must assume that Emma Swan is in imminent danger of either an assassination or abduction attempt. I'm going to recommend that she be secluded until such time as we deem the threatneutralized.  
It is possible, actually probable, that this investigation will be removed from our jurisdiction—" She held up her hand for silence as the agents shifted in their seats and murmured in protest.

"I know how you feel, and I think that we are the best people to protect her as well as to get to the bottom of this. But situations like this often become political, and it's possible we will have nothing to say about it. If it comes to that, I expect  
/total cooperation with whoever is running the investigation. Remember, the bottom line is Cobra's safety. There is no room for ego or personal gain where she is concerned."

She waited a beat. "Am I clear on that?"

Everyone nodded their head in understanding.

"Good. Let's get to work. Graham, a moment, please." Regina turned to him as the others filed out. "As soon as Ms. Swan arrives home, inform me. I'll meet her and advise her of the situation. That's all."

Graham merely nodded. Today was not a day to do anything but follow orders. The Commander was on fire.

* * *

Regina stalked through the command center to the elevators and left the building without speaking to anyone. She crossed the square to her own apartment and shed her clothes immediately upon entering. She went to the bathroom and stepped into the shower,then  
turned on the cold water on full and let it blast the fatigue from her body and her mind. She was furious. Furious that someone dared threaten Emma Swan for no other reason than the position she represented. She was furious at herself for allowingher  
feelings for Emma to interfere with her duty. She was furious that the thought of any harm coming to Emma terrified her.

When the phone rang two hours later and Graham notified her that Emma had returned to her penthouse apartment, Regina was seated in front of her large bay windows, dressed in a starched white shirt, black silk trousers, and a charcoal silk jacket. Shehad  
been waiting for the call, her mind uncommonly still. She felt sure of herself for the first time in weeks.

* * *

"What's the emergency?" Emma asked more abruptly than she had intended. She stood across the room from Regina in just her robe, having barely gotten out of the shower when she had been informed that her security chief was on her way up. "This isn't avery  
good time. Can't we do this later?"

She had not seen Regina in almost ten days. Since returning from the ski resort, she had worked restlessly, spending long hours applying paint to canvas, creating sweeping abstract images of anger and longing and frustrated desire. When finally, her emotionshad  
run dry, she'd looked up from her easel and felt the walls of her loft closing in on her. Regina's image still haunted her. The comfort of Regina's embrace on the airplane had been harder to forget than the sexual desire that had plagued her previously.  
/Lust was something she could control, ignoring it, or, if necessary, putting it elsewhere. What she felt for Regina Mills was something she hadn't experienced since she had been innocent enough to believe in love. More than anything else, it frightened  
/her.

"What is it?" Emma asked quietly when she got no answer. Regina, normally so calm and collected, looked tense, and her eyes were deeply shadowed with fatigue. Emma's heart twisted suddenly. "My father?"

"No," Regina said quickly. "No, I'm sorry. He's fine."

"Then what?"

"There's been further contact from the stalker." Regina said flatly. "A photograph was leftsometime last night."

"Of me?" Emma shivered inwardly, her stomach churning at the thought.

"Yes. It was taken when you left the building last night."

"My god," she exclaimed, thinking of theapartment she'd just left. Of an unsuspecting woman still asleep in the tangled sheets. "Was I followed? Regina, there's a woman—"

Regina shook her head, careful to keep her expression blank. "We don't have any reason to think she is in danger. The apartment where you spent the night was under surveillance the entire time."

"Where did they pick me up?"

"From here," Regina smiled grimly. "We got lucky for once and trailed your cab."

Emma studied Regina's face. "Who was in the bar?"

"First me, then Ruby."

"I didn't see you."

"No, I wouldn't imagine so."

"Regina." Emma's tone was quiet, her eyes dark. _I didn't mean for you to see that. I just wanted to not want you for a few hours._

Regina made an impatient gesture with her hand. She couldn't let her feelings about Emma's sexual raid distract her. Especially not now. "That doesn't matter. What matters is the situation with this mystery man."

"Which is what, exactly?" Emma asked pointedly, aware that Regina had cut off any further discussion of the personal.

"The photographs may be nothing more than his way of letting us know that he is around. But it may also be an indication that he's escalating. I have to assume that to be true."

Emma took a deep breath. "What do you intend to do about it?"

"I thought it was only right to inform you first that I'm flying to Washington later this morning to conference with my assistant director and probably the chief of staff. I would anticipate that a task force will be formed to investigate and apprehend  
/the individual."

Emma said nothing, turning to look out her windows into the park below. She thought she knew how a caged animal felt. "What will that mean for me?"

Regina saw the rigid set of her back and heard the slight tremor in her voice. For an instant, she wanted to take Emma into her arms and comfort her. Instead, she forced herself to say, "I would imagine you'll be moved out of the city until he is in custody."

Emma spun around, her green eyes nearly black with fury. "You mean they'll close me up in some compound with guards twenty-four hours a day, as if my life were so insignificant I could walk away and leave everything behind."

"No." Regina took a step forward, then stopped herself. Forcing herself to be calm, she said firmly, "As if your life were too important to risk for a single moment."

"Bullshit!" Emma spat. "The only thing you people care about is protecting the reputation of the United States government and the people who run it."

"Emma—"

"Don't, Regina. At least don't lie to me." Emma turned on her heel and staked to the opposite side of the room, stepping the partition that enclosed her sleeping area.

After a moment, Regina followed. Emma was hastily throwing clothes into a suitcase.

"Exactly what do you think you are doing?" Regina's tone was lethally cold.

Emma didn't bother to look up. She dropped the robe onto the floor, naked beneath. She stepped into jeans, pulled a sweater over her head, and shoved bare feet into loafers. Silently, she paced to the dresser and searched for her wallet and keys. Whenshe  
finally looked at Regina, her face was set.

"I'm getting out of here. I wouldn't suggest you try to stop me. I don't think my father would bepleased if I was manhandled by one of his Secret Service agents." Then she reached for her bag and was stunned when Regina grasped her forcibly by the  
shoulders,stopping her in her tracks.

"I don't give a fuck what your father thinks!" Regina raged. "I don't even give a fuck what you think. You are not leaving this apartment."

For a brief second, Regina became every person who had ever conspired to keep Emma a captive in a life she had never chosen. Dropping the keys, she swung her hand at Regina's face, lashing out not at the woman who had done nothing more than attempt toprotect  
her, but at the faceless many that had carried out their orders despite her wishes.

Reflexively, Regina intercepted the blow with her left arm, angry not at Emma for attempting to strike her, but at Emma's stubborn refusal to accept that she was in danger. Then, Regina's fear surfaced on a wave of uncontrollable desire, and she pulledEmma  
into her arms. Covering Emma's mouth with her own, Regina kissed her roughly, her hands pinning Emma's arms to her sides as she pulled the unsuspecting woman hard into her embrace.

For a moment, Emma was too shocked to react, but there was never an instant of resistance. When she felt Regina's mouth on hers, she kissed her back, her tongue searching urgently to join Regina's, her arms tight around Regina's waist as their legs entwined.

Regina's breath rasped in her chest as reason all but deserted her. She had wanted Emma so badly, for what seemed like forever, and her body rapidly raced out of control. She groaned, burying her face against Emma's neck as she pushed one hand beneaththe  
sweater, finding flesh.

Emma arched her pelvis into Regina and tilted her head back, exposing her neck as if for sacrifice. "Oh God, Regina, God, yes...touch me."

The sound of Emma's voice sliced through Regina consciousness, paralyzing her as awareness crashed upon her. _My god, what am I doing!_

Regina halted her caresses, but did not let go of the woman in her arms. Instead, she cradled her closer, pressing her lips to Emma's ear. Shuddering with arousal, she whispered urgently, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Forgive me."

"No!" Emma choked, fisting one hand in Regina's hair, forcing her head back. "Look at me."

Groaning, nearly mad, Regina fell into Emma's eyes.

"Touch me." Emma whispered. "I need you."

"I can't." Regina murmured in anguish. She couldn't do this, not again. She couldn't feel this much, she couldn't want this much. she had not touched another woman with passion since the morning she had last made love to Eva. Six hours later she had heldher  
helplessly as she lay dying. She had vowed never to feel the longing, or the loss, again. "God, I can't."

"No, of course, you can't." Emma pushed away from her unsteadily, running her trembling hands through her hair. Her eyes were bruised, from passion, from the pain of Regina's rejection. "It's not in your job description, is it, Commander? You can't feelanything  
for me because it would interfere with your duty. Isn't that right?"

Regina shook so badly she wasn't sure she could stay standing, but she willed her voice to be firm. "When I meet with the assistant director in Washington, I'm going to resign this command. Whatever you may think of me, I will not jeopardize your safetyby  
remaining. I can't do my duty, simply because I can't think of you as just another assignment."

When Regina turned to leave, Emma called."Wait!"

The nearly helpless note in her voice caused Regina to stop. Hoarsely, she asked, "What?"

"I have to attend the opening of the new children's wing at the city hospital this afternoon at one. It's been arranged for months, and there are children who might not...be there...later." Emma wanted to touch her, just for the comfort of it, but she  
/didn't dare move. "Can't all of this wait until after that?"

Regina nodded slowly, knowing if she turned around she'd reach for her again. "I'll arrange to leave for Washington immediately after that."

"Thank you." Emma whispered as Regina walked away.

* * *

At 12:30 that afternoon, Regina stood outside Emma's door, dressed much the same as she had been that morning. She had changed shirts, substituting a pale gray silk for the white. When she knocked, Emma opened her apartment door immediately. She worea  
simple black dress accented by a string of gray pearls at her neck. Her low heels brought her exactly to Regina's height. Anyone seeing them together would have thought they made a striking couple.

"Will you come inside the hospital with me?" Emma asked, her eyes meeting Regina's in an unusual display of vulnerability. "Ever since my mother...I hate hospitals."

"Yes. Every step." Regina said quietly, knowing how hard this visit must be for her.

"I... appreciate it." Emma whispered.

As Emma stepped to Regina's side, Regina softly touched her hand. "It will be okay."

Three other agents joined them as they exited the elevator and walked toward the lobby doors. Graham had the SUV waiting at the curb, the rear doors open and the engine running. The bright afternoon sunlight outside the large glass doors cast a blindingglare  
directly into their faces. Ruby and Katherine Stern exited first, followed by Regina and Julia Suarez, Emma between them. Automatically, Regina looked up, squinting into the sun, scanning the buildings across the small square. She sensed rather than  
saw movement flickering somewhere in the haze that silhouetted the outline ofthe rooftop of the building.

Regina Mills had instincts that were her guiding force, the one thing in her life she neither questioned or doubted. She stepped quickly in front of Emma, pushing her backwards into the shelter of the entrance. Then, she must have tripped, because thenext  
thing she knew, she was kneeling on the sidewalk, trying to catch her breath. An assortment of cries filled her head as agents screamed into their microphones.

 _Code red, code red... oh fuck fuck fuck._

"Get...her...inside." Regina ordered, but her voice came out a whisper. She had her gun in her right hand, but it was very difficult to raise her arm. With huge effort, she turned her head, searching for Emma. Through her vision was oddly blurred, shesaw  
Emma surrounded by agents, who were half carrying her back into the building. Emma appeared to be struggling, her hand outstretched toward Regina. Someone far away screamed Regina's name, an agonized, animal howl of pain. Then silence.

 _She's safe_.

Regina's mind was quite clear. Emma was safe, and her duty was done. Accepting the strange sleepiness that spread throughout her, she sank slowly onto her back. Then she opened her hand and let her gun rest gently on the sidewalk. Staring up into thebluest  
sky she could ever recall, Regina peacefully closed her eyes as her heart ceased to beat.


	13. Chapter 13

Graham came crashing through the double glass doors just as Emma broke Ruby's hold. Shouldering past a stunned Joy Carter, Emma raced across the lobby towards the entrance. She'd almost made it back outside when Graham caught her from behind, wrapped both arms around her, and pulled her back. "Ms. Swan, no!"

"Let me go." Emma screamed. She looked beyond him and saw Regina fall and the lie still. So terribly still. The pool of blood on the sidewalk beneath her was bright red. And enormous. Somewhere close by, sirens sounded. "Oh my god. Oh my god. She's out there alone! Let me go!"

"The EMTs are almost here." He had to get her upstairs, out of potential line of fire "Ruby, key the elevator!"

Emma thought her head would explode. All she wanted was to get to Regina. She was an experienced fighter, and swiftly, she brought one elbow hard into his stomach. The air rushed from his chest, and he loosened his hold. She wrenched free only to be picked up bodily by the other three agents and carried across the lobby and into the elevator.

"Get her into the command center." Graham called as the doors slid closed.

"Let me go." Emma's voice was steady and so firm that the three agents did as they were told, dropping their hands and stepping back from her.

Ruby, white faced, with the barest hint of tremor in her voice, asked, "Are you hurt?"

"No." Emma swayed slightly as the elevator glided to a halt on the eighth floor. When the doors open, they all stood still for a moment, shell shocked.

Again, it was Ruby who took charge. "Come this way, please, Ms. Swan."

"Yes." Emma replied, stepping out blindly, unable to see anything except Regina on the ground. She blinked in the harsh glare of the overhead lights and glanced around the room. She'd been there before, but not often. It looked like any large office, with the exception of the bank of widescreen monitors that took up most of one end of the room. Automatically, she moved toward them. It took her only an instant to find the one displaying the image from the camera over the entrance to her apartment building. She placed both hands on top of the workstation counter and leaned close, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.

Two people, EMTs it appeared, were working on Regina, one straddling her body, pumping rhythmically on her chest, the other pushing tubes into her arms. Police in combat gear crowded around. Graham was kneeling on the sidewalk by her side.

"Ms. Swan." Ruby said softly in her ear. "I don't think—"

"Can you make this image larger?" Emma asked without turning from the screen.

"I... I don't..."

"Please, Ruby." Emma's voice was quietly urgent. "I want to see her face."

"Yes, ma'am." Ruby reached down to the keyboard and adjusted the angle of view and the zoom. The commander's eyes were closed, and she might have been asleep except for the slight trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth.

"Can you get audio?" Emma whispered hoarsely, resting her fingertips on the surface of the monitor, just touching Regina's cheek. _Regina. Oh God. This can't be happening._

"No. I'm sorry." Ruby was very much afraid she was going to cry, and she bit the inside of her lip to take her mind off the terrible scene on the screen and the agonizing sight of Emma Swan watching.

"I want to go to the hospital." Emma muttered, never taking her eyes away as the stretcher came into view and Regina's body was rapidly shifted onto it. When she could no longer see her, she straightened, shivering, although she didn't think she was cold. "Now, please."

"That won't be possible." Ruby said as gently as she could, although her tone left no room for negotiation. She expected to get a call from Graham, or someone, any second directing them to evacuate to a safe house. She was a bit surprised that the SWAT team hadn't made it upstairs.

Emma turned to her then, her green eyes as cold as winter snow. "I will go with or without you, Agent Lucas. Your choice."

With that she walked away, leaving Ruby to shout into her wrist microphone the one phrase guaranteed to mobilize the entire team.

"Cobra is moving."

* * *

Graham crowded into the back of the ambulance, wanting desperately to contact Ruby but unsure of the security of their long-distance communication links. He watched the continued resuscitation, his stomach in knots. _At least Cobra is secure. Ruby knows the drill. Christ, why can't they move a little faster?_

"You'll have to wait outside, sir."

"Look," he held up his ID to the dark-haired woman in the navy-blue scrubs, "I'm not leaving her."

The surgeon frowned. "Stay out of the way then."

"Roger that." He muttered, craning his neck to see what was happening beyond the edge of the white curtain. Controlled chaos was what it looked like. Or maybe just chaos. The commander was surrounded by people, all of them doing something to her. The female EMT still straddled her chest, arms rhythmically pumping, counting with the steady beat of a metronome.

One, two, three, four, breath, one two three four, breath.

They'd cut most of her clothes off. There was a hole above her left breast and a hell of a lot of blood.

 _We need another line here...Hang more fluid...Son of a bitch!...I can't get a blood pressure...Where the fuck is the O negative?_

He watched the monitors and what he saw made his guts churn. There wasn't anything on them.

 _Push the intracardiac epi again... Anything?...crack her chest..._

The surgeon, the cool eyed tall one, held out her hand. A nurse put a scalpel in it.

 _Here we go...I've got a rhythm...shit, shit no pulse...keep up the compression...nothing...pump more blood..._

Graham avoided looking at the woman's hands inside the commander's chest. He watched the flat green line race across the screen, then felt his heart stutter when a single blip became several, and finally a steady line of them. His knees were suddenly weak. _Oh, thank Christ._

The surgeon halted, stared at the pressure readout with an expression that would have been frightening if she'd had a gun in her hand. She looked as if she were in the middle of a battle.

 _Come on, come on...yeah, there she goes...Tell the OR we're coming up...move it..._

Graham sagged in relief as the entire entourage barreled by him, and after taking a second to catch his breath, he followed. One step into the waiting room and he stopped dead in his tracks, staring in disbelief. _Tell me I'm not seeing this._

* * *

"How is she?" Emma demanded as she strode across the room towards Graham with Ruby and Julia Suarez tailing her. "Can I see her?"

Stunned, discretion forgotten, Graham snapped, "This area is not secure. You cannot be here."

"I'm here. I'm not leaving." Emma took a deep breath. _Cooperate. I promised Regina I would cooperate. Oh, Regina. Please. It can't end like this._ "Do what you have to do, Agent Humbert, but I'm not leaving until she's out of danger. Put a dozen agents on me—I don't care."

He looked past her out the emergency entrance as another SUV squealed to a halt and the rest of the team piled out. "The six of us will do for now. Let's find someplace more private than this."

"Thank you, Graham." Emma said softly. "Please...tell me how is she."

As they walked down the now eerily deserted corridor toward a small lounge, he replied, "They just took her to the operating room."

"Was she conscious?" The image of Regina lying so still wouldn't leave her mind.

Graham cleared his throat. "Ms. Swan—"

"Just say it, Graham. Please."

"She arrived here with no vital signs—" He clenched his jaw at the small moan, quickly stifled, from the woman beside him. Hurriedly, he added, "But they'd been doing CPR in the field. They got her back."

 _They got her back. Where had she gone? Could it really all end so quickly? Of course, it can. She'd just touched my hand, said it would be okay. She stepped in front of me. Oh my god, she stepped in front of me._

"Excuse me." Emma said abruptly as she turned and disappeared into a restroom.

"Ruby." Graham snapped. "Go."

"Yes, sir."

Ruby found her braced over a sink, her hands curled around the edges of the white porcelain, her breath coming in quick, short gasps. Protocol dictated that Ruby just guard her, not comfort her, but she couldn't forget how the president's daughter had looked watching the monitor, trying to touch the fallen commander through the screen. Jesus, ten days ago she held me...

Experimentally, Ruby placed her fingertips on Emma's shoulder. She couldn't see her face, but she could feel her shake. "Ms. Swan—"

"I'm okay." Emma said faintly, keeping her head turned away. "I just need a minute."

"Of course." Ruby dropped her hand and stepped back, but she stayed close.

Emma closed her eyes and willed her stomach to settle. Tried to will away the horrible realization that another human being had almost died in her place. A woman she lov—

 _That can't be. It can't. That's not what I feel. Oh, don't let this happen now._

"God, she can't die." Emma's head snapped up when she realized she'd spoken aloud. Her eyes met Ruby's in the mirror. There was sympathy and kindness there. Probably more than she deserved. "Can you find someone to tell me what's happened to her?"

"Yes, ma'am," Ruby said softly. "I'll do that."

* * *

Seven hours later, Emma wakened to the muted sound of voices just outside the lounge where she had been sleeping on the sofa. Quickly, she rose, hurried to the door, and looked out into the hall. Two women, neither of whom she recognized, were absorbed in conversation, their expressions intent, their voices low and serious. One was clearly a medical person, probably a surgeon if her blood splattered navy scrubs were any indication. The other, in elegantly beautiful woman who looked so much like Regina, looked over at that moment and met Emma's eyes.

"Ms. Swan?"

"Yes." Emma said, walking forward.

"I'm Cora Drax, Regina's mother."

"Emma Swan." Emma took the offered hand and found herself holding it instead of returning the handshake. Surprisingly, Regina's mother's hand was warm whereas her own felt frozen. "I'm so sorry for what's happened."

"The surgeon," Cora said, indicating the disappearing form of the woman with whom she had just been speaking, "says that Regina is stable for the moment. We have reason to be happy."

"Thank God." Emma whispered. "I was so afraid..."

"Yes. I can imagine." Cora folded Emma's hand into the crook of her elbow, drawing her near. Her gentle eyes skimmed Emma's face, noting the hollows beneath her eyes and the faint tremor in the fingers resting on her arm. "You were there? You saw?"

For an instant, everything returned full force, and Emma shuddered. "Yes, I was there. She...it was supposed to have been me, apparently."

When she looked at Regina's mother, she couldn't hide the guilt. She said again, "I'm so sorry."

"I don't believe that Regina would want you to be." Cora said kindly as they settled side by side on the sofa in the lounge. Julia Suarez stood by the doorway and another agent stood just outside in the hall opposite the lounge. "I'm certain she would say she was only doing her job."

A smile flickered across Emma's face even as her eyes filled with tears. "Yes," she whispered. "I'm quite sure she would."

"We should be able to see her in a few minutes."

"I won't take any of the time you'll want to be with her." Emma said. "If you could just tell me...how she is."

Cora studied the president's daughter carefully, unable to overlook the pain swimming in her eyes. "I'm sure she'll want you to be there."

* * *

Thirty-six hours later, Regina's recovery was still not assured. She was barely conscious, and intermittently her vital signs had become unstable, requiring supportive measures.

Emma sat by the bed in one of the two private rooms on either end of the intensive care unit. She stroked Regina's pale cheek lightly as she watched for any sign of awareness. Her heart raced when Regina's lids fluttered, then opened briefly. Regina's dark eyes, usually so sharp and sure, were filled with pain and drugs.

"Regina, you're going to be okay." Finding Regina's hand, Emma lifted it to her lips, whispering softly against her skin. "I need you. Hold on...please."

"Hurts..."

"Shh, I know, love, I know."

At the sound of movement behind her, Emma turned quickly, her eyes meeting Graham's. She was tired beyond fatigue, stretched to breaking with fear, bleeding in some deep place that had not bled since her mother died. It seemed that everything that mattered to her was right here in this still room. She was drowning in the unnatural silence broken only by the even more unnatural sound of life reduced to mechanical vibration and monotonous beeping. "Leave us alone, please."

"You need to get some rest."

"No. Not yet. They said another twenty- four hours before they were sure..."

Gently, her persisted, "Making yourself sick won't help."

"It helps me. I can't leave her."

"I'm sorry." Graham said as kindly as he could. "We need to move you to a protected location."

"No."

"Ms. Swan, I'm truly sorry. The shooter is still at large, and we simply can't provide proper security here. The chief of staff just called me again."

Gloomily, Emma nodded, because she couldn't fight everyone. "Give me one more minute, please."

"Of course."

Alone once more, Emma leaned over Regina's still form and kissed her.

* * *

Regina had no memory of the ambulance ride, of the frantic forty-minute resuscitation in the emergency room, or of the first twenty-four hours in the intensive care unit with a tube in her throat delivering oxygen and two larger tubes in her chest removing blood and tissue fluids. A machine breathed for her, she could neither move nor talk. Occasionally, she would register some small sensation, sound, a light, someone touching her. Always, there was a soft voice, murmuring words of consolation that had no meaning, but were strangely soothing.

Pain was a distant thunder, rolling slowly through the landscape of her awareness, ever present. Whenever she would begin to awaken, it would be there, making her moan with its relentless assault.

 _Can't you give her something, for God's sake? She's suffering._

The voice was so familiar, yet the face so incomprehensible. Once, Regina opened her eyes and was certain that the tear stained face bending near her own was Emma's. But that couldn't be right, could it? The next time she opened her eyes, she was aware enough to realize it was a nurse.

Snippets of conversation floated over her head, but despite her desperate attempts to make sense of what was happening, there was huge gaps in her consciousness, destroying any sense of reality. People touching her, turning her, tending to her. The single touch that anchored her the most, however, was a gentle hand that seemed to enclose hers for hours on end. Whenever she could summon the will, Regina squeezed the fingers clasping hers, and the voice would come again, murmuring tender words of love and encouragement in her ear.

"Who...are..."

"It's okay, love, don't try to talk now."

"Stay..."

"I will."

* * *

Regina lay quietly, eyes closed, taking stock of her situation. Most of the tubes she had been dimly aware of the last few days were gone. The noise level around her had also decreased, and she sensed that she wasn't in the intensive care unit anymore. A hand slowly stroked her hair. She opened her eyes and focused on the woman beside her. She was surprised at how bright the sunlight filtering through the window appeared.

"Hello, mother." Regina reached for the fingers softly brushing her cheek, amazed, and not a little frightened, to discover how difficult a task that was. She hoped she didn't look as weak as she felt.

"Hello, Regina, darling."

Regina blinked again in the sunlight, and then she saw the hint of movement, the glint of metal, and it all came back to her in a rush.

"Emma!" Panic gripped her. "Is she okay? Was she hurt?"

Anxiously, she tried to sit up and found that she was unable to raise her shoulders more than a fraction of an inch. The pain she had been living with for days suddenly came to her as a fire in her chest. "Oh...oh." She gasped involuntarily, collapsing against the pillows again. Sweat broke out on her face, soaking the sheets instantly. "God."

"Lie still, Regina." her mother said firmly. "Ms. Swan is fine. She wasn't injured. In fact, you were the only one—" she hesitated for a moment, steadying her voice. "You were the only one who was shot."

"Where is she?" Regina persisted hoarsely, struggling to contain the wave off nausea that followed on the heels of the agony in her chest. She remembered the soothing caresses and soft voice, the gentle words of love. Had that been Emma?

"They took her somewhere safe." Core responded, too concerned by the wash of sweat across her daughters face to explain that Emma had not gone willingly or before she had nearly collapsed from exhaustion herself. "Don't talk, Regina. It's too soon."

Regina closed her eyes briefly, sapped by the effort to sit up. Despite her fatigue, she felt peaceful and content. Emma was safe. Sleep was coming quickly, but she needed to know. "Who's in command? Who's looking after her?"

"I believe it's a gentleman named Gray, or something like that."

 _Graham. Good. He won't let anything happen to her._ Reassured, secure in that thought, she closed her eyes and escaped the pain.

Cora looked down at her sleeping child. She thought of the other young woman who had spent so many hours beside this bed, holding her daughter's hand, stroking her hair, whispering to her in low, loving tones. She knew whatever battles her daughter had been waging, those long dark hours had been made lighter by Emma's presence.

She wondered if either of them understood the depth of their connection, which perhaps could only be appreciated by someone standing outside the circle of their intimacy. She knew her daughter's sense of duty well enough to know that Regina would not have allowed anything to happen between them. It was just as clear to her that despite their best intentions, something very significant had. Wearily, she made her way down the hall to the pay phone. Reading from the slip of paper in her hand, she punched in the numbers that had been written there for her.

"This is Cora Drax," she began when a male voice answered. She was told to wait a moment, and then a woman spoke.

"Yes? Is she—"

"She's awake. Weak, but otherwise she seems to be quite all right."

A moment of silence, then a voice that shook slightly. "Thank you so much for calling me."

"Of course." Cora hesitated a second, then added. "She asked about you immediately."

Emma took a sharp breath. Leaving Regina, still uncertain as to her fate, had been the hardest thing she'd ever done. She's felt like she was leaving her heart behind. _God, how I wanted to be there when she woke up!_

"Ms. Swan?"

"Yes, I'm here. Could you tell her—tell her I..." Emma halted in confusion. Regina would never believe her. Not after seeing her in the bar, watching her with another woman, not knowing that the stranger had been no more than a substitute. And then they'd fought, just hours before the nightmare had begun.

"I think you'll have to tell her that yourself," Cora said gently into the silence, "when the time is right."

"Yes of course." Emma said swiftly, her emotions now firmly under control. She thanked Regina's mother and hung up the phone. She turned away, knowing that there would never be a time when she could share with Regina what was in her heart. But she could see that Regina was never hurt because of her again.

* * *

"Did the doctors say I couldn't return to active duty?" Regina asked. "Are you trying to tell me I'm being retired.?"

"Hell, no." Assistant Director Robert Gold asserted. "We can't fire you after the president practically gave you a medal."

"A paper honor. No big deal." She shrugged, then gritted her teeth. The slightest movement hurt. "Then what the hell is going on, Gold? There's a mystery man still at large and a job that needs to be done. They said I'd be down for a few months. It will be less, I guarantee it."

Gold looked out the window, searching for words, wishing he had a different answer. He didn't understand it, but it wasn't his call, Regina Mills was a hero throughout the agency and had been publicly commended by the president. She had done, without hesitation, what each of them had secretly asked themselves if they could do. She had been willing to die in the line of duty. They didn't come any better than her. Whet he had to say didn't make any sense.

"The doctors said you'll be fine. That's not the problem." He turned to look her in the eye, because she deserved to get it head on. "Emma Swan personally requested that you be relieved of command. She went over everyone's head. There's not much we can do about that."

"I see." She said in a voice totally devoid of emotion. Her right hand gripped the covers tightly, but otherwise she lay without moving. She had been hoping— _What you were hoping doesn't matter anymore. It wasn't her. You were wrong._

Emma hadn't come to the hospital, Regina hadn't expected her to. Once she'd been able to take calls, Graham had filled her in. The team had closed off Emma after the shooting for her own protection, and the plan was to keep her out of public view for a while. As the days had passed, though, Regina had wondered at the absence of any message from her. Now she understood the silence.

Emma had finally managed to escape at least one of her bonds. _She's free of me._

"Look." Gold said briskly, unnerved by the silence. "Once you're cleared for duty, you'll have your pick of assignments. Hell, after what you did, you could sit out your days until your pension on some fancy island for all anyone would care."

"Right. Thanks for coming, Robert." Her face was careful blank, but a shadow of grief passed through her eyes.

When Gold left her room, Graham was waiting down the hall.

"How did she take it?"

Gold studied Graham carefully, wondering how much he could disclose. What he saw was a look of genuine concern and something more, something that looked a lot like sympathy. "She took it well. She didn't argue or put up a fight."

"Uh-oh." Graham said hollowly.

"Yeah. Worries me too." Gold didn't know what to make of the way she'd looked when he'd left the room. She was staring at some distant point, so still he could barely see her breathing.

"Yeah, well, she'll be fine. She always is." Gold said sadly.

Graham wasn't nearly so sure. Taking a deep breath, he went to pay his respects to the woman he was about to replace.


	14. Chapter 14

Four months later, Regina was deemed fully recovered physically and cleared to go back to work. She finished rehab ahead of schedule, as predicted. She also completed her mandatory psychiatric counseling, and just as she had after Eva was killed, she passed without difficulty. One thing she was expert at concealing was her emotions. No one seemed to notice the sorrow in her eyes, and if they did, they didn't comment. No one ever doubted Regina Mills and her ability to do the job. It was almost as if the last half year had never happened.

Now, as she sat in Robert Gold's office in the Department of the Treasury to receive her newest assignment, it was just like it had been the day he'd assigned her to command Emma Swan's security team. It was deja vu, but everything was different, including her. She was more alone than ever. Then at least she'd been numb. And when she'd needed contact, a brief delay from isolation, she had Angelina.

That was different now too. When she'd sorted through her things after being released from the hospital, she came across the note Angelina had left the night they'd spent together, a lifetime ago. It had been in the pants pocket of her trousers since the day she'd been shot.

 _R, I have a feeling I won't be hearing from you for a while. I'll miss you, more than you know. If you ever need anything, call me. A._

Regina never called, knowing that what she needed, Angelina could not give her. Not this time. After Eva had died, she'd lost herself in work, and when she'd needed something to ease the sadness and the guilt, Angelina had helped her forget. Emma Swan was impossible to forget, and no one else's touch was going to satisfy the longing.

"So," Gold finished, watching her carefully. She seemed distracted, and that was unusual for her. But, hell, she'd earned a little slack. "Regional director, back in investigations. Right up your alley."

"What's the catch?" Regina asked mildly, willing herself to focus on what she was saying. _This is what I'm good at. What I wanted before New York. Before Emma. I should be glad. Why don't I feel anything at all?_

"No catch. Your team will be investigating the counterfeit money laundering operation in South Florida. You'll work with the DEA."

"Just like always." Regina said grimly. "Fine. I'll need a few weeks on the ground to get a sense of the team and the network they have going, check out the contacts and the informants, that sort of thing."

"You're the regional director." He said with a laugh. "You don't need to do field work."

Regina eyed him steadily. "I'm perfectly fit for duty. And I know what it takes to do the job, Gold."

"Understood. But being shot twice in the line of duty is enough for any agent." He commented dryly. "Despite the fact that you're a hero, you'll give us a bad name."

"Heaven forbid." Regina said with a perfectly straight face.

"Well, just keep your ass out of the line of fire." Gold said roughly. He looked to the papers on his desk, indicating that their obligatory meeting was over. His surprise when she spoke.

"How is Graham handling the other detail?" She asked quietly. She hadn't meant to ask, but she hadn't heard anything about the apprehension of the shooter. Which meant Emma was still at risk. It was on her mind. All the time.

He was almost successful in hiding his surprise. This was the first time she had referred in any way to her previous assignment. He contemplated issues of security for a few seconds. What the hell, she deserves an answer.

"No major security breaches, if that's what you mean. Humbert is very careful with is reports, but I gather that the subject is still throwing up roadblocks whenever possible." He regarded her intently for a moment. "As a matter of fact, I could use a straight briefing about what's going on up there. You're not due to report to this new post for almost a week. How about dropping in on Graham and getting the real story?"

Regina stiffened, her displeasure clear. "I'm not going to spy on another agent. Graham Humbert is perfectly capable. I'm sure if you speak with him, he'll tell you whatever you need to know."

"Hell, I'm not doubting Graham's ability. But I'm no fool either. I know damn well that he is holding back the details of the reports to protect Emma Swan. Remember, the guy who tried to kill her is still out there, and we couldn't keep her secluded forever." He played his advantage card, because he was a politician, and he knew that only an appeal to duty would sway her. "She's still in real and imminent danger. Any information can only help us. If you don't want to talk to Graham, talk to her."

"No way." Regina stood abruptly, then turned and strode purposely toward the door. Emma hadn't called, and Regina hadn't contacted her. There was no reason to. Her job was done. Their association was history. It didn't matter that she rarely passed a day, hell, an hour, without thinking of her. Emma Swan had never thought of her as anything more than an obstacle for her freedom. She wasn't going to intrude on Emma's life now. Emma would hate it, and seeing her would hurt.

"Mills." He said in the soft, deadly tone that meant he was completely serious. "Don't make me pull rank. Just find a way to do it that you can live with. Five days. Then I'll expect to hear from you."

She didn't answer. She didn't trust her voice not to tremble.

* * *

As she drove through the Lincoln Tunnel into Manhattan, Regina reminded herself that she was in New York City for the sole purpose of attending the opening of her mother's gallery exhibition. It was the first East Coast showing for Cora in a number of years, and Regina knew it would please her mother for her to be there. She had absolutely no plan on visiting the command center, and certainly no intention of seeing Emma Swan. She reminded herself of these facts every few minutes, whenever she found her mind drifting to the images that she thought she had successfully eliminated. Images of Emma in a smoky bar, her hair wild and her hunger unleashed. Emma, vulnerable and weary in the hospital after the ski accident. Every moment of her triggered a kaleidoscope of wistful wanting and explosive desire.

God damn it. She forced her concentration back to the congested city traffic, grateful for something, anything, to distract her from the aching need that was never far from the surface of her consciousness.

She allowed the attendant at the Plaza to valet park her car and gave the bellman her luggage to bring up to her penthouse suite. She wasn't traveling on company time and felt no need to account for her expense. In fact, she felt unaccountable to anyone for the first time in her adult memory. She was between assignments, and despite Robert Gold's order, she would not be performing any duty for the United States of America for the next five days.

She signed in, and, as soon as she was alone in her suite, she showered. She had an hour and a half until the evening opening of her mother's show. Standing naked before the bathroom mirror, trying to tame her unruly waves into position, she surveyed her image unemotionally. Her thick black hair had new touches of gray at the temples. Despite the lengthy recovery, with vigorous physical therapy and compulsive workouts, she'd maintained her muscle mass and strength. She was muscular and firm. The only visible difference was the scars on her torso from the bullet wound, the surgical incisions, and multiple tubes that had been necessary to fill her lungs. She looked as herself and wondered how she would look to another. She dismissed the thought quickly. It was a debatable point.

She absentmindedly went about the process of dressing. She did not glance at her reflection again, knowing that the black silk jacket and trousers were perfectly tailored for her, that her shoes we impeccably shined, and that the French cuffs of her white starched shirt were exactly the right length. When the driver let her out in front of the address she had given him, she knew that she was precisely on time. Everything in her life was exactly as it should be, predictable, ordered, and under control.

The room was already full when Regina entered, as she expected it would be. The crowd had overflowed the first level up the stairs to the second floor of the gallery, a noisy mass of murmuring critics, artists, and members of the press. Regina accepted a glass of wine from a passing waiter and began a slow tour of the area, stopping to study each new canvas. It had been a long time since she had seen so many of her mother's works in one place, and she had not seen any of her most recent creations. The hallmark characteristics of her mother's style were clearly evident, but Regina was surprised to find that the paintings seemed calmer at their core, with less of the pain that had been so evident in the early years following her father's death. _Maybe time does heal. I hope so for her sake._

Eventually, Regina heard her mother's distinctive voice, and she gravitated toward it. Cora was visible despite the crowd of people around her. She appeared relaxed, although there was a light in her eyes, apparent even at a distance, which spoke of exhilaration. She's talking about what she loves.

Then Regina heard another voice that drew her up short. Emma was standing next to her mother. Heart pounding, Regina felt as if someone had struck her hard enough to drive the breath from her body. For an instant, her mind was numb, then every sensation she had been trying to suppress regarding Emma Swan flooded back. Her pulse raced, her blood pounded, and her hands began to shake.

Emma looked up and their eyes met. Then Emma's lips parted in surprise, her green eyes widened, and a faint blush stole across her cheeks. She took an involuntary step forward, as if intending to rush towards Regina, then halted uncertainly. They stared at one another as moments passed.

Surprisingly, Emma regained her composure first. She threaded her way through the intervening crowd until she stood in front of Regina. She tilted her head and smiled sadly. "How are you, Commander?"

Regina finally found her voice and answered with as much control as she could come up with. "I'm fine, Ms. Swan."

Emma studied her carefully. Physically, she did look fine, and as strikingly handsome as ever. But there was a strange flatness in her gaze and an emptiness in her voice, as if something vital was missing. Instinctively, Emma touched her arm. She was shocked to feel her tremble. Her sources had told her that Regina had recovered completely, but now she wasn't so sure. She had never seen her even the least bit unsteady. "Are you sure? Regina?"

Regina nodded sharply, trying to hide her pain. The place where Emma's hand rested was all she could feel. She had tried so hard to forget her, and just one brief touch brought back all the wanting. She finally managed to answer evenly, "You have me at a disadvantage. I didn't expect you. I didn't see any of our people outside or in the crowd."

"Ever observant, Commander. They're in a car parked across the street." When she saw Regina frown, she smiled faintly and added, "Everyone here has been thoroughly prescreened. I'm quite safe."

"Forgive me." Regina finally smiled and tried to relax. "It is not my place to question these things any longer. I should speak to my mother." She turned to leave, needing to escape from the penetrating green gaze and the searing touch on her arm. "It was good to see you again, Ms. Swan."

"Wait, Regina," Emma said impulsively. When Regina turned back to look at her questionably, she continued, "I wanted to say thank you. It is so insufficient but...I... thank you."

Regina spoke without thinking. "Emma, you don't need to thank me. God...I couldn't have stood it if anything happened to you."

"Why do you think I would feel any differently?" Emma questioned urgently, her throat closing on the words. She had struggled for so long with her worry and fear and guilt. Emma grasped her hand, and their fingers entwined instinctively. "I was so frightened. I couldn't bear that you might die because of me. For me. I never wanted anyone to do that, especially not someone I... care for."

"Please, Emma," Regina murmured, catching a glimmer of tears on her lashes, "don't. You were not responsible."

"No?" Emma shook her head, her voice a mere whisper. "I'm not so sure."

"I should go." Regina said desperately. She wanted to hold her, and couldn't keep denying it. Being this close to her, touching her, was bringing her carefully constructed barricades tumbling around her. When they'd been separated, she'd been able to convince herself that she didn't want her, didn't need her. Because it was impossible for so many reasons, not the least of which was that Emma obviously did not want her. But she had lied to herself. And now she was very much in danger of saying, or doing, something she would regret. "Please, excuse me."

When she turned to leave, Emma stopped her with a hand on her arm.

"No, I should go. You came to see your mother. She'll be devastated if you leave now." Emma tried unsuccessfully to hide her bitter disappointment. She had come close to telling her things she didn't want to acknowledge, even to herself. She should have known there was too much standing between them for that to be anything but foolish. She didn't think she could tolerate being in the same room as Regina, not with the distance between them so great, not with the wanting so obvious it was an ache in her depths. For the briefest for instants, Emma laid her fingertips on Regina's chest. "It was good to see you again, too, Commander. Please know I'll never forget you."

And with that, she was gone.

* * *

"What a surprise!" Cora kissed her daughter on both cheeks, the grasped her hands and leaned back, surveying her fondly. "I'm so glad you came, Regina. I know these aren't your favorite events."

Regina tried to smile, still shaken by her encounter with Emma. "I'm sorry it's been so long. I'm so happy for you."

"You look well."

"I'm fine, thanks." Regina couldn't help but look toward the door. She couldn't see her anywhere. She's gone. Christ, but it hurts.

Cora detected the turmoil in her daughter's eyes and glanced briefly around the room. She did not see Emma. She hesitated for a moment, and then spoke gently. "Have you seen Emma?"

"Yes." Regina swallowed, replying softly. "We just spoke."

"She's a remarkable woman." Cora sensed her daughter's struggle for composure. "A gifted artist."

"She's..." Regina stumbled over her words. "She's extraordinary."

Going on instinct, Core continued, "I'm sure no one told you, Regina, but Emma stayed by your side for almost forty-eight hours after you were injured. She refused to leave until your people forced her."

Regina gasped and closed her eyes briefly. "It was her."

"Yes." Her mother said simply.

 _Emma. It was Emma's voice I heard. Emma's hand I clung to._

And suddenly, right now, that was all that mattered. Regina met her mother's gaze, a faint stirring in her heart. She smiled, her eyes flickering with a light that had been absent for months. "Thank you for telling me that. Thank you."

Cora had no time to answer before Regina turned and swiftly made her way through the crowd and out the door.


	15. Chapter 15

"Commander!"

"Ex-Commander." Regina said with a tired smile.

Graham glanced at the clock. 0005. Too late for a social call. "How can I help you, Commander?"

"I need to see her, Graham." Regina said, much more calmly than she felt. "I've been leaving messages at her apartment for hours."

Graham didn't even consider not telling her. "She's downtown. We know where she is, but it's awkward to make contact at the present time."

"In a bar." It was a statement, not a question. She didn't need an interpreter. She knew what Emma did to fill her solitary hours. She took a deep breath, trying to ignore the sinking sensation in her stomach. "Or has she already gone home with someone she picked up?"

"No." Graham was quick to clarify. "She didn't. She's still at the bar." He didn't think it was his place to tell the commander that this was the first time in months that Emma had been out to a club, or that she seemed to have given up her one-night stands.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd tell me which one." Regina stated quietly. "I know it's against regulation, but—"

"The Bear Arms." Graham said without hesitation. "Uh, Commander, Ruby is inside somewhere."

 _Meaning Ruby will recognize me if I show up, and he's worried about my reputation._

"Thanks, Graham." Regina said, not caring in the least what anyone thought.

Thirty-five minutes later, Regina was standing at the bar, scanning the room. It was Friday night and the club was crowded with women of all ages, mostly in denim and leather. She didn't see Emma immediately, but she did see Ruby. Ruby saw her too, although the young agent, looking completely at home in leather pants and a shirt open far enough to be eye catching, did not acknowledge her in any way. A slight rise of the eyebrow was all that indicated she had spotted Regina.

 _She's getting good_.

Then, Regina forgot about Ruby, stopped searching faces, and let her senses engage the room. Closing her eyes, she felt the damp heat of many bodies brushing against her skin, smelled the mixture of alcohol, cologne, and sex in the air, heard the murmur of the hunt swirling all around. She sensed the ultimate huntress in the crowd the way prey sense the predator. Then Regina opened her eyes and saw Emma.

She never got over the quick jolt of pleasure that always accompanied the first sight of her. There was no one else to compare, Emma was exquisite, blonde hair, fit body, and a piercing gaze that systematically evaluated, then discarded, possible partners.

Tonight, though, Emma seemed oddly removed from the searching crowds that surrounded her. She stood alone, her expression distant, almost bored. As Regina watched, a dark, lean warrior in tight blue jeans and a sleeveless black T-shirt approached Emma, leaned close, and appeared to whisper something in her ear. Regina didn't need to see any more. She knew exactly what would happen next, and just how quickly the capture would be achieved.

 _Not this time._

Regina moved quickly, reaching Emma just as the dark-haired youth lifted a hand to brush Emma's cheek.

"Sorry." Regina grasped the woman's wrist, firmly but not harshly. "She's not available."

"Oh yeah?" The younger woman attempted a show of bravado, stiffening as she took in Regina's stony expression. "Since when?"

Regina's voice was low, but hard. "Since right now."

There must have been something in Regina's demeanor that warned of the impending danger, because the other woman hesitated for a brief second, then melted into the crowd.

"Thanks a lot. You just ruined my night." Emma said by way of greeting. Secretly, she was shocked to see Regina, and even more at a loss to understand her actions. It was the first time Regina had ever interfered with Emma's private activities. As if that weren't enough, there was coiled tension in her ex-security chief's body that was impossible to miss. If she didn't know better, she would've thought it was sexual.

"Ruining your evening was not what I had in mind." Regina rejoined, moving close enough that their thighs touched. She traced the line of Emma's jaw with one finger, her eyes darkly dangerous. "Far from it, in fact."

"Oh?" Emma caught her breath at the caress, so light that it was barely noticeable. The touch was so excellent that she felt it in her bones, and she was instantly wet. Determined to maintain control, she asked in an exaggeratedly even voice, "Just what did you have in mind, Commander?"

"I'll show you." Regina reached for her hand and tugged. "Come with me."

Emma hesitated, unable to think with Regina suddenly so close. "No, wait, we can't. Ruby is on the other side of the room."

"It won't be the first time she's seen you leave somewhere with a woman." Her tone was flat, impatient. She saw no point in pretending that they didn't know what had happened in the past. And she couldn't wait any longer. Didn't want to wait.

"Yes, but it would be the first time she has ever seen me leave with you."

"Don't let it concern you." Regina's face softened as she linked her fingers gently through Emma's, but her tone was urgent. "It doesn't bother me. Please."

Regina tugged on Emma's hand again, drawing her into the crowd, and Emma felt strangely powerless to resist, perhaps because she had absolutely no desire to. She followed, unprotestingly, outside into the dark night. Once in Regina's car, they were both silent, and the silence persisted until Emma stood in the hotel room, looking around uncertainly. She slipped out of her coat and watched Regina toss her own on the couch. Regina looked so good in a polo shirt and jeans, she felt another wave of arousal flood her thighs. _God. I can't stand this._

"I have no idea why I'm here." Emma said, almost pleadingly. _I want you so much._

Regina turned, their bodies mere inches apart. "Don't you?"

"No." Emma whispered, her throat suddenly dry. The breath caught in her throat at Regina's unmistakable look of desire, and all her usual quick retorts and sarcastic replies deserted her. This was a new experience. She was suddenly in the middle of a scene she had not written, in a role she did not know how to play. She had only her own desires. "I can only hope."

Regina put her hands on Emma's shoulders and brought her lips to within a whisper of Emma's. "Do you know how much I have missed you?"

"It's been so long." Emma murmured, her vision hazy. "I never thought—"

"God, don't you know?" Regina trembled with the effort to contain her raging senses. Forcing the words out through a jaw tight with need, she struggled not to give in to the ferocious hunger that crawled long her spine. "Must I tell you that I want you?"

Emma moaned, her vision dimming as the blood raced to her core.

"It kills me to see someone else touch you." As Regina whispered the words, she dropped her hands to Emma's hips and pulled her close. Then, with Emma crushed to her, she brought her mouth to hers, heavily, possessively, and kissed her. Groaning, she parted Emma's lips with her tongue and sought the soft inner recesses, losing herself in the consuming heat.

Emma was beyond surprise. How many nights has she laid awake, trying not to think about how much she wanted this mysterious woman? How many times she had attempted to satisfy the need with her own touch? But even her familiar hands and perfect caresses could not still the longing that went far deeper than flesh.

Now it was happening, and reality was so much more than her imaginings, she could barely absorb it. The core of her was melting, surging white hot and molten through her limbs. She clutched Regina's shoulders for support, uncertain how long she could stand. When Regina's probing tongue filled her mouth, she bit down hard enough to make Regina grunt, then sucked fiercely as Regina yanked the blouse from her jeans and thrust her hands upward along Emma's ribs.

"God, yes." Emma urged, grasping Regina's wrists and pushing her breasts into Regina's palms. Moaning, she sagged as strong fingers squeezed her nipples, tugging them into screaming erectness. Suddenly, fear was covered with desire. No one had touched her this way in years. She never let anyone, had never wanted anyone, to touch her this way. Her self-control was her armor, and she was terrified as it slipped away. She was close to totally losing control, and the small part of her mind that was still functional rebelled.

"No." Emma gasped, yanking her mouth away.

Regina did not want to stop. She was blind with need, her blood roaring through her head, driving out all reason. With the last shred of will she had, she forced her hands to still. Lowering her head, pressing her face to Emma's neck she grasped the soft skin of Emma's throat in her teeth. She tugged, growling, as she thrust her thigh between Emma's legs.

"Regina..."

"I've wanted you for so long." Regina gasped, her teeth on Emma's earlobe now, biting lightly as her tongue swirled over the sensitive ridges. "Please—I'm dying I need you so bad."

Emma couldn't think. Each second her body pushed closer to the edge. Dimly, she was aware of her thighs trembling as she rubbed herself against the hard muscles of Regina's thigh. A terrible pressure was building between her legs, and she whimpered as spasms began to ripple outward.

"Oh no." She gasped, her voice quite different now. Shaky. "I'm...ready to come—"

"Oh, no you don't." Regina warned, as she lifted her up, forcing Emma to thread her legs round Regina's waist for balance. Regina held the trembling woman in her arms as she moved toward the bedroom. "I'm not done with you yet."

"I'm so close." Emma gasped, pressing her forehead hard to Regina's shoulder.

"Hold on to it as long as you can." Regina's throat was tight, her mind reeling. "God...I want to taste you first."

Emma struggled to focus on Regina's face as Regina lowered her to the bed. She looked starved, wild, fierce. That look alone was enough to send another shower of electricity down Emma's thighs. "Oh, please hurry..."

"Easy." Regina whispered, pushing Emma's sweater up, then pulling it off as Emma arched from the bed. "Now the rest."

They stripped frantically and the Emma grabbed for Regina, pulling her heavily down on top of her, scissoring her legs around Regina's thigh again. She bit down hard on the skin a muscle of Regina's shoulder as she thrust desperately against Regina's leg.

"Wait." Regina murmured, her breath hot in Emma's ear, her hands on Emma's breasts again.

"I can't, I can't" Emma gasped, her fingers digging into Regina's back. "I want to so much...oh, oh...I need to..."

Regina braced her arms on the bed, pushed herself up, and in one fluid motion slid down between Emma's legs. She wasn't thinking, she was too hungry for that. It had been so long, so very long. She slipped her palms of her hands under Emma's hips and lifted, settling Emma's legs around her shoulders. Then she took her between her lips, sucking the heat, swallowing her desire, stroking her need. She could feel Emma's clit stiffen and she knew that even as she began to lick her that Emma was coming. She didn't stop, even when Emma's cries turned to soft sobs. She kept up the motion, stroking harder, faster, until once again she felt Emma swell and throb. She drove her relentlessly, beyond caring about anything except her own wild need to consume her. Within moments, Emma trembled uncontrollably, her hands twisted in Regina's hair.

"Oh God, it feels so good." Emma wailed, convulsing again and again.

Regina didn't move for many moments after Emma quieted. Eyes closed, she rested her cheek on the soft smooth skin of Emma's thigh, just listening to her breathe. Then, her own racing heart stilled and her eyelids fluttered closed as she drifted on the edge of sleep, content and completely satisfied.


	16. Chapter 16

Regina awoke with Emma slowly stroking her hair. It was dark in the room, with just a faint light at the window hinting dawn. The sheets were twisted about her waist, and she still lay half upon Emma's body.

"Are you cold?" Regina murmured, pulling the covers with her as she pushed upwards, slipping an arm around Emma's shoulders as she moved.

"No." Emma whispered as she turned into Regina, resting her head on Regina's shoulder. There was a moment of silence as they pressed closer, each aware of the other's uncertainty.

"I can't remember the last time someone made love to me." Emma finally said.

Regina could remember precisely the last time she had made love to another woman. It had been casually, as if it were only one time of many, with many more to come. She hadn't known that early morning almost a year ago that it would be the last time she would touch Eva alive.

"It's been a very long time for me, too," was all Regina said. She didn't want to explain or relive the past. It had taken until now, and this particular woman, to awaken a desire that had been buried in pain and guilt for months. For the moment, this was enough. More than she'd ever dared hope for.

"It was so good." Emma murmured.

"Yes." Regina sighed, stroking the length of Emma's arm lazily. "You're so beautiful."

Emma wondered about Regina's past, but she did not ask. Perhaps there would come a time when she would need to know. What she needed to know of her now had begun the morning Regina had first appeared at her apartment, commanding and certain and uncompromising. Thinking of Regina that first day, so hard but yet so strangely kind, rekindled Emma's desire.

"You're pretty fine yourself, Commander." she turned her head to softly kiss the tender skin just below Regina's right nipple. Then parting her lips, she nipped gently, eliciting a soft groan. Smiling, she waited a heartbeat, then took Regina's nipple into her mouth teasing it with her tongue and teeth. She continued until Regina stiffened, her hips arching slightly off the bed. Emma moved lower, kissing and biting lightly along Regina's ribs, down the flat plane of her belly, until she circled Regina's navel with her tongue. Regina's hands were in her hair now, urging her downward, but Emma resisted, taking her time, wanting to be sure that she had Regina's full attention. She trailed her fingers up the inside of Regina's legs, deliberately stopping just short of the heat that radiated from her.

"Jesus." Regina gasped. "Are you going to make me beg for it?"

"That was the general idea." Emma nestled her breasts between Regina's legs. She could feel the slick warmth against her own nipples.

Regina rotated her hips, attempting to draw the teasing firmness of Emma's nipples across her clit. She groaned, a deep choking sound. "Just touch me a little. Please, just a little—"

Emma pressed her thumb against the ring of muscles at Regina's rear, not entering, but stroking over the smooth tissues until she felt Regina shudder. Running a fingertip upward through the wet, swollen folds, she whispered, "I seem to remember someone talking about waiting."

"You're killing me, I swear to God—" Regina pressed her head back against the pillows, gritting her teeth, wanting the pleasure to continue, not knowing if she could bear it. "I might...go off...without you."

"Oh, I doubt you'll go that easily." Emma smiled, then flicked her tongue over the base of Regina's clit. She was rewarded with a faint sob. As slowly as she could, she circled the very edges of the engrossed tissues with her tongue, entering her at the same time. Regina's muscles contracted violently around Emma's fingers, her clit lengthening and becoming harder still.

"Do it, please, do it, do it." Regina pleaded desperately. "I have to come."

As much as she wanted to savor every second of Regina's desire, Emma was starting to lose control herself. She had wanted this for so long, and the reality was so much more than she imagined. Her head pounded and her thighs clenched and unclenched involuntarily. When she took Regina between her lips, she could feel an answering surge in her own clit. She never came without direct stimulation, but she realized that she was very nearly there just from touching Regina. She squeezed her eyes tightly and tried to focus on Regina's rhythm.

Suddenly Regina twisted on the bed, shifting so that she lay facing Emma, her head close to Emma's legs and took her with her mouth. Seamlessly, they echoed each other's caresses, lips and hands calling and answering as instinctively as their two hearts beat in synchrony. Regina was already too close and started to come almost as soon as Emma's lips touched her. She moaned, her lips encircling Emma's clit, sucking hard as her breath caught in her throat. She clasped Emma's hips, pulling her even harder against her face, trying to maintain contact as her own body bucked and surged with the explosion between her legs. Distantly, she heard Emma whimper, and knew that she too had been lifted on the crest of their merging passion.

* * *

When they awoke again, it was late morning.

"Graham must be worried." Regina remarked lazily, running her hands slowly up and down Emma's back. "I'm surprised he hasn't found you yet."

"He's not as good as you are." Emma said quietly.

"You should probably call them."

"Why? Ruby knew I left with you." Emma observed, an edge in her voice. _I don't want this to end. I just want a few more hours of happiness._

"I know. But they may not know that you're still with me, and there's no need to cause panic."

"Always working, aren't you, Commander?" Emma sighed, because she knew Regina was right, she couldn't run any longer. She kissed Regina gently, then slipped from the bed and padded naked into the other room to make the call. While she was there, she dialed room service as well and ordered a late breakfast for them both. When she'd finished, she returned to the bedroom and pulled Regina's shirt from a pile on the floor. She pulled it on, leaving it unbuttoned. Leaning against the doorway, she observed Regina propped up on the pillows, a sheet drawn up to her waist. There were new scars, fading badges of honor that she would give anything to erase. She caught her breath, amazed at how much she wanted her.

"How long are you here for?" She asked, trying to appear nonchalant.

"Officially?" Regina shrugged, wondering at the sudden gloom in Emma's expression. "Another four days. I have a new assignment, and I am supposed to report back to Washington before I start."

"And then?"

"Florida, at least until I get a feel for the territory." Regina replied. She didn't like thinking about leaving Emma, but then they weren't even supposed to have this much. She was breaking a lot of rules, most of them her own. Looking at Emma, she didn't care. For a few days, for the sake of being with her, she would forget about the rules. _Don't think about more. Christ, a few months ago she got rid of you._

"And unofficially?" Emma tried to hid her disappointment. _What did you expect? That she would want more than this?_

Regina watched her carefully, still finding her expression impossible to read. "Unofficially, I'm supposed to be here observing you."

"Well, your methods are certainly unusual." Emma laughed, but there was an edge in her voice. She crossed her arms over her chest, feeling suddenly exposed. "I'm not complaining, of course."

"Come back." Regina said gently, holding out her hand. "I told them I wouldn't do it."

Unable to stay away from her, Emma said on the edge of the bed and rested her hand possessively on Regina's thigh. "Why not?"

"Because Graham is a good man, and I know he can do the job." Regina lifted Emma's hand to her lips and kissed each fingertip. She turned Emma's hand over and pressed her lips to Emma's palm. "And because I respect you, and I know how little privacy you have left."

"But you came to the bar last night." Emma observed quietly.

"That wasn't business." Regina pulled Emma back into bed, back into her arms. "That was personal."

Emma closed her eyes, fearful of how much she wanted to hear those words. "How personal?"

Regina's embrace tightened, and she rested her cheek against the top if Emma's head. Her voice was husky as she answered quietly, "As personal as it gets."

* * *

After breakfast, Emma pulled on clothes she'd borrowed from Regina. She liked the way the worn clothes felt against her bare skin, almost as it Regina were still touching her. _God, you're so gone. And in so much trouble here._

Suddenly at loose ends, she stood in the center of the hotel suite and regarded Regina quietly as she finished dressing. She couldn't recall the last time she had made love with a woman and still been with her the next morning. She still couldn't quite believe what had happened between them. It felt so right, and yet until twenty four hours before, she thought she'd never see Regina again. She'd purposefully had Regina removed from her detail, because she couldn't be around her without wanting her, and that was impossible. Even more, she couldn't bear the thought of Regina ever being hurt again because of her. It would destroy her.

"What happens next?" Emma asked, surprisingly uncertain.

Regina thought of a number of replies, but decided with a sigh that only the truth would do. She met Emma's questioning gaze squarely. "In a few days, I'll be back in Washington, and then on to Florida. You'll still be the daughter of the president of the United States. I'm not sure we have much to say about what happens next."

"I have a right to a life." Emma said, her green eyes darkening dangerously.

"I'm not done." Regina said quietly, crossing to her and putting her arms around her waist. They had just made love. She couldn't pretend it meant nothing, and she couldn't hide behind her badge and protocol where Emma is concerned. People had been doing that to her all her life. "I shouldn't even be saying this but, I want to see you again."

"It will create talk." Emma pointed out. _God, it will start a media frenzy if it gets out._

"I know." Regina agreed. "Unless I'm assigned to your security detail, any relationship between us will be obvious, or at least suspect."

"No." Emma said with finality, disentangling herself from Regina's embrace and moving away. There were many reasons that solution was illogical for her, not the least of which was that she knew how much the professional conflict would weigh on Regina. "I don't want you on my detail."

"Yes, you made that quite clear." Regina leaned one hip against the back of the sofa, hands in her pockets, studying Emma calmly. "But it does prove good cover."

"Cover?" Emma's eyes blazed. "So, I'm supposed to let you put your life in danger so I can keep my personal life private?"

"Put my life in danger?" Regina's brow arched in surprise. "That was a one in a million occurrence."

"Oh, sure." Emma shook her head in frustration. "Has it occurred to you that he's still out there? And if it's not him, there will be someone else?"

"That's always a possibility. That's why you have protection." Regina heard the edge of fear in Emma's voice and added softly. "I don't want you to live in fear. You simply need to be cautious and have good people around you who know their jobs. And I know my job. The whole team does."

"Good people, yes. But not you." The memories were still too clear. The pain still too raw. "I have no intention of letting you protect me at the risk of your own safety."

"That's what I do, Emma." Regina insisted gently.

"Not for me." Emma said, the image of Regina lying so still on the sidewalk, a spreading pool of blood beneath her, still so fresh in her mind. In a softer tone, she repeated, "Not for me."

Regina didn't miss the anguish flaring in Emma's eyes. Thinking of Emma living through the shooting, knowing now that she had spent those first several hours in the hospital waiting by her side, Regina's heart ached. She quickly took Emma into her arms, cradling her gently. "Hey, it's over. I'm fine."

 _For now_. Emma kissed her firmly, a mixture of passion and relief. "And I prefer you stay that way."

"Then it appears we have a problem, Ms. Swan." Regina leaned back, arms still around her, a soft smile on her lips. "If you won't let me guard you, what excuse do I have to be with you?"

Emma took a deep breath, and then took the biggest risk she has ever taken. "How about just because you are crazy about me?"

Regina stood very still, her hands resting on Emma's waist. She thought of her career, she thought of Emma's reputation, she thought of the president's public image. All of them issues, none of them impassable. She couldn't walk away. It wouldn't be easy, but they could find a way. She kissed Emma gently on the forehead, and whispered. "Well, there is that."

Emma released the breath she had been holding and rested her cheek against Regina's shoulder. "Since the feeling is mutual, I'd say we have a plan, Commander."

"It's a beginning." Regina murmured. "But we still have a few days before I go."

"Mmm." Emma responded, thinking of exactly what she wanted to do for those four days. "I have to leave for a Southeast Asian meeting on humanitarian issues with my father in a few weeks. When I come back, we'll work it out." She slid her fingers down Regina's abdomen toward her belt and began to work the buckle open. "But right now, let's not talk."

Regina laughed, her heart soaring. Pulling Emma's shirt from her pants, she muttered. "The fact the we agree is downright scary."

Emma bit her just hard enough to make her jump. "I don't want you to get used to it."

"Oh, I might." Regina murmured, leading Emma back towards the bed. "In a century or so."

* * *

 **And that is the last chapter but there are more in the series if you guys would like me to continue. So if you want me to continue let me know and if enough want to I will do it.**


	17. NOT A NEW CHAPTER

I have uploaded the first chapter of the sequel to this one it is called Duty. Go check it out!


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